The government announced on Thursday that home starts declined last month following a three-month gain, despite a more optimistic view on the housing industry and sharply lower mortgage rates in recent weeks.
December saw a 4.3% decline to 1.46 million units, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Commerce Department. Although they were up 7.6% from December 2022, single-family home starts declined 8.6% to 1.02 million. Buildings with five units or more had a December rate of 417,000.
The revised November rate of 1,467,000 was followed by a 1.9% increase to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,495,000 for building permits.
The total number of licenses rose 1.6% over the 1,409,000 million rate in December 2022.
The number of permits issued for single-family homes rose by 994,000, or 1.7%. Permits for single-family homes decreased by 11.7% year-to-date in 2023, allowing for an expected 1,469,800 units of allowed housing.
In December, there were 449,000 unit authorizations for structures with five units or more.
New statistics from the Commerce Department showed that yearly housing starts fell 4.3% to 1.46 million units in a month. Refinitiv’s economists predicted a rate of 1.42 million units. The biggest fall since July 2022 was in building single-family homes, which caused the overall loss.
On the other hand, the yearly rate of applications to build, a sign of future building, increased in December, climbing 1.9% to 1.49 million units. Building permits are 6.1% higher than they were at the same time last year.
Mortgage rates soared above 7% at the end of summer, stifling demand among would-be purchasers and beginning a steady decline in builder sentiment. However, investors’ belief that the Federal Reserve would soon switch gears and decrease rates has led to a decline in borrowing costs during the previous two months.
Housebuilders have recently seen a surge of optimism due to the recent downturn, suggesting that the worst may have passed.
