HUD AND CENSUS BUREAU ANNOUNCE NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY IN JUNE

By HUD -

July 17, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 17, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau today announced the following new residential construction statistics for June 2013:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 911,000. This is 7.5 percent (±1.0%) below the revised May rate of 985,000, but is 16.1 percent (±1.7%) above the June 2012 estimate of 785,000. Single-family authorizations in June were at a rate of 624,000; this is 0.6 percent (±1.2%)* above the revised May figure of 620,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 261,000 in June.

HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 836,000. This is 9.9 percent (±11.4%)* below the revised May estimate of 928,000, but is 10.4 percent (±14.9%)* above the June 2012 rate of 757,000. Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 591,000; this is 0.8 percent (±11.0%)* below the revised May figure of 596,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 236,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 755,000. This is 6.3 percent (±14.1%)* above the revised May estimate of 710,000 and is 20.2 percent (±12.3%) above the June 2012 rate of 628,000. Single-family housing completions in June were at a rate of 554,000; this is 1.1 percent (±13.6%)* below the revised May rate of 560,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 188,000.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take 2 months to establish an underlying trend for building permit authorizations, 4 months for total starts, and 6 months for total completions. The statistics in this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as non-sampling error including bias and variance from response, non-reporting, and undercoverage. Estimated relative standard errors of the most recent data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5 percent (3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies apply to the confidence intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates of total building permits, housing starts and housing completions are revised about three percent or less. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found on our web site listed above.

* 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

New Residential Construction data for July 2013 will be released on Friday, August 16, 2013, at 8:30 A.M. EDT at http://www.census.gov/starts. To receive the latest updates on the Nation’s key economic indicators, download the America’s Economy app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.

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