By Dees Stribling | MHN Online
Private housing starts in November came in at an annualized rate of 1,091,000 units, according to the Census Bureau on Wednesday. That’s 22.7 percent higher than the revised October estimate of 889,000, and 29.6 percent higher than the November 2012 rate. Single-family housing starts in November were at an annualized rate of 727,000 units, 20.8 percent above the revised October figure. The annualized rate for multifamily buildings (more than four units) was 354,000.
The rolling 12-month average for single-family starts, which is currently at a shade over 600,000 units, is still historically low. The housing bubble of the 2000s took the average up to an unsustainable peak of more than 1.7 million units, but during more “normal” times, the average hovered roughly between 800,000 and 1.2 million units.
A more forward-looking indicator of residential real estate, private housing units authorized by building permits, also came in fairly strong in November: an annualized rate of 1,007,000 units. That’s 3.1 percent below the revised October rate of 1,039,000, but is 7.9 percent above the November 2012.
