Housing Starts Rise 1.7% in December

Privately owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.08 million. This is 1.7 percent above the revised November estimate of 2.05 million and is 15 percent above the December 2002 rate of 1.82 million.

Single-family housing starts in December 2003 were at a rate of 1.66 million; this is 0.6 percent below the November figure of 1.67 million. The December estimate for units in buildings with five units or more was 397,000.

An estimated 1.85 million housing units were started in 2003. This is 8.4 percent above the 2002 figure of 1.70 million.