Housing Starts Down in December

Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 456,000; this is 6.9 percent below the revised November figure of 490,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 92,000. An estimated 553,800 housing units were started in 2009. This is 38.8 percent (???????(R)???????+???????(R)??????oe???????(R)???????+???????(R)????????1.4 percent) below the 2008 figure of 905,500.
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Privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000. This is 4 percent below the revised November estimate of 580,000, but is 0.2 percent above the December 2008 rate of 556,000.

Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 456,000; this is 6.9 percent below the revised November figure of 490,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 92,000. An estimated 553,800 housing units were started in 2009. This is 38.8 percent (???????(R)???????+???????(R)??????oe???????(R)???????+???????(R)????????1.4 percent) below the 2008 figure of 905,500.

The Midwest increased its housing starts 15.5 percent from December 2008 to December 2009, but decreased 18.5 percent during the past month. For the Northeast both those figures were at a decrease of 19 percent. Look for housing completions to be on a short downward trend for four to six months from now. ?EUR??,,????'?????<