December Housing Starts Rise With Surprise

A 1.7% rise in housing starts in December surprised economists, who predicted that rates would lower in the final month of 2003.

Despite rising interest rates, housing starts reached a rate of 2,088,000 last month, according to the Department of Commerce. Exhibiting the highest housing start rate since 1978, December?EUR??,,????'???s startling boost came from a 15.7% increase in apartments with five units or more. At the same time, single-family homes, whose rates have steadily increased since August, saw a decrease of 1.7%.

A 15% increase in housing starts since last year sums up the activity of one of the best housing construction years on record. The National Association of Housing Builders predicts that housing starts will decrease 4% over 2004. However, a 3.3% increase in housing permits in December stands as a precursor for more building.

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized, but Not Started

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Under Construction at End of Period

New Privately-Owned Housing Units Completed