Single-Family Surge Lifts Total US Housing Starts 5.2% in February

The 1.18-million-unit annual rate of housing starts beat economists’ expectations, with single family starts jumping 7.2% to its highest level since 2007.

March 16, 2016

US Census Bureau, US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Single-family housing starts in the U.S. surged 7.2% to beat economists’ projections with a 5.2% jump in total starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units. Total permits issued for housing projects fell 3.1% to an annual rate of 1.167 million units, with single-family permits holding virtually steady with January at 731,000 units and multifamily permits dropping 8.4% to a 436,000-unit pace.

Single-family housing starts in the U.S. surged 7.2% to beat economists’ projections with a 5.2% jump in total starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units. Total starts reached their highest level in five months, but perhaps more importantly, single-family starts’ 822,000-unit pace was the highest since November 2007.

Single-family starts soared in the West and Midwest, growing 24.8% and 18.6%, respectively. Single-family starts were unchanged from the January level in the South, and fell 12.5% in the Northeast.

Multifamily starts rose 2.4% in February to a 341,000-unit annual rate.

Total permits issued for housing projects fell 3.1% to an annual rate of 1.167 million units, with single-family permits holding virtually steady with January at 731,000 units and multifamily permits dropping 8.4% to a 436,000-unit pace.

The steepest drop in total housing permits was an 11.4% fall in the Midwest, even though single-family permits increased 8.9%. Permits increased a whopping 40.4% in the Northeast despite a 3.7% drop on the single-family side. The South saw a 4.4% drop in permits issued, and permits in the West fell 7.2%.