The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
January 18, 2024US HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2023 Month over month (December 2023 vs November 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rates)
US housing starts decreased 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,460,000 units. There was a decrease in single unit starts (-8.6%) and an increase in multi-unit starts (+7.5%). The number of residential building permits increased 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,495,000 units. Permits were up for single units (+1.7%), up for structures with 2-4 units (+10.6%), and up for multi-unit structures with more than 5 units (+1.4%).
Year over year (December 2023 vs December 2022, seasonally adjusted annualized rates)
Compared to December 2022, US housing for starts were up 7.6%, with increases in single unit starts (+15.8%) and a decline in multi-unit starts (-9.5%). Residential building permits were up 6.1%, with increases in single units (+32.9%), increases in structures with 2-4 units (+6.1%) and declines in structures with 5 or more units (-26.6%).
Annual (2023 vs 2022)
Annual housing starts have averaged 8.8% lower in 2023 than in the same period of 2022. Starts for single units fell 6.1% and multi-unit starts were down 13.6%. Residential building permits declined by 12.3% with declines in all categories: single units (-7.4%), structures with 2-4 units (-5.9%) and structures with 5 or more units (-20.3%).
Source: US Census Bureau New Residential Construction, retrieved from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using a FRED API.
<--- Return to Archive
