Milder Weather Boosts November Housing Starts
New residential construction benefited from relatively mild November weather, HUD and the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
The report said privately owned housing starts in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,679,000, 11.8 percent higher than the revised October estimate of 1,502,000 and 8.3 percent higher than a year ago (1,551,000). Single‐family housing starts in November rose to 1,173,000, 11.3 percent higher than the revised October figure of 1,054,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more rose to 491,000, up by 12.1 percent from October (438,000 units) and by 39.1 percent from a year ago.
Regionally, November results were generally positive. In the largest region, the South, starts jumped by 18.4 percent in November to 933,000 units, seasonally annually adjusted, from 788,000 units in October and improved by nearly 16 percent from a year ago. In the West, starts rose by 5.1 percent in November to 412,000 units from 392,000 units in October but fell by 0.2 percent from a year ago.
In the Northeast, starts jumped by 27.5 percent in November to 130,000 units, seasonally annually adjusted, from 102,000 units in October but fell by 9.1 percent in a year ago. Only the Midwest saw a monthly decline, falling by 7.3 percent in November to 204,000 units from 220,000 units in October. From a year ago, however, starts in the Midwest improved by nearly 8 percent.
“November’s housing starts report signals strength for the housing market,” said Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist with First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif. “The bottom line is we need more homes and it will take time to reduce the housing stock ‘debt’ in the face of growing demand. But today’s housing starts report, in combination with a positive builder’s sentiment report, sends an optimistic message about the housing market as we enter 2022.”
“Starts likely benefited from unseasonably mild weather throughout most of the country during the month and a relatively late Thanksgiving,” said Mark Vitner, Senior Economist with Wells Fargo Economics, Charlotte, N.C. “Home building is ending the year on a strong note, with builder confidence near its all-time high and starts benefiting from unseasonably warm and dry weather. Builder confidence is being bolstered by near record-low inventories of completed homes and near record-high backlogs of homes to be built.”
Building Permits
The report said privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,712,000, 3.6 percent higher than a year ago. Single‐family authorizations in November rose to 1,103,000, 2.7 percent higher than the revised October figure of 1,074,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more rose to 560,000 in November, up by 6.1 percent from October (528,000 units) and up by 15 percent from a year ago.
Housing Completions
The report said privately owned housing completions in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,282,000, 4.1 percent higher than the revised October estimate of 1,231,000 and 3.1 percent higher than a year ago. Single‐family housing completions in November fell to 910,000; 0.1 percent below the revised October rate of 911,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more rose to 364,000, up by nearly 20 percent from October (304,000) and by nearly 14 percent from a year ago.
