Residential Construction Retreats in April
Permits were down 4% for month; starts were down 10.6% for month and 23.9% below April 2010.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for April 2011:
Building permits in April 2011 were 551,000, down 4.0% from the March revised rate and 12.8% below the revised April 2010 estimate. Housing starts in April 2011 were 523,000, 10.6% below the revised March estimate and 23.9% below the revised April 2010 rate.
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 551,000. This is 4.0 percent (±1.1%) below the revised March rate of 574,000 and is 12.8 percent (±1.2%) below the revised April 2010 estimate of 632,000.
Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 385,000; this is 1.8 percent (±1.0%) below the revised March figure of 392,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 143,000 in April.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000. This is 10.6 percent (±13.0%)* below the revised March estimate of 585,000 and is 23.9 percent (±7.0%) below the revised April 2010 rate of 687,000.
Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 394,000; this is 5.1 percent (±10.2%)* below the revised March figure of 415,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 114,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 554,000. This is 4.1 percent (±15.2%)* above the revised March estimate of 532,000, but is 25.5 percent (±8.6%) below the revised April 2010 rate of 744,000.
Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 420,000; this is 14.4 percent (±12.8%) above the revised March figure of 367,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 118,000.
