Housing Starts Slump 8.5% in January

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported this week that privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890,000, 8.5% percent below the revised December estimate of 973,000, but 23.6% above the January 2012 rate of 720,000. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 613,000; 0.8% above the revised December figure of 608,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 260,000.

David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Washington, D.C., said the report is quite positive because it shows continued upward movement in single-family housing production and permitting activity for both single- and multifamily units. He said, “The decline in multi-family starts reflects an adjustment from an unsustainably large gain in December, and is consistent with the up-and-down swings often associated with that sector.”