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Joint Release U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Joint Release U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010 AT 8:30 A.M. EDT
CB10-52
Erica Filipek or Stephen Cooper
Manufacturing and Construction Division
(301) 763-5160
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. This is
7.5 percent (±1.3%) above the revised February rate of 637,000 and is 34.1 percent (±2.6%) above the March 2009 estimate of
511,000.
Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 543,000; this is 5.6 percent (±1.5%) above the revised February figure of
514,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 120,000 in March.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000. This is 1.6 percent (±15.2%)* above the
revised February estimate of 616,000 and is 20.2 percent (±15.3%) above the March 2009 rate of 521,000.
Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 531,000; this is 0.9 percent (±12.1%)* below the revised February figure of
536,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 88,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 656,000. This is 3.1 percent (±16.7%)*
below the revised February estimate of 677,000 and is 21.2 percent (±8.9%) below the March 2009 rate of 833,000.
Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 486,000; this is 5.9 percent (±14.6%)* above the revised February rate of
459,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 161,000.
New Residential Construction data for April 2010 will be released on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, at 8:30 A.M. EDT.
Our Internet site is: http://www.census.gov/newresconst
http://www.census.gov/newresconst
EXPLANATORY NOTES
In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular.
It may take 3 months to establish an underlying trend for building permit authorizations, 4 months for total starts, and 5 months for total completions. The statistics in
this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response,
nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated relative standard errors of the most recent data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5 percent
(±3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for
percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it
does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies apply to the confidence
intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates of total building permits, housing starts and housing
completions are revised about two percent or less. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found on our web site listed above.
* 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.
Table 1. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places
[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]
March (p) 685 543 22 120 66 50 120 91 360 289 139 113
Percent Change:
March 2010 from February 2010 7.5% 5.6% 29.4% 13.2% -19.5% -23.1% 17.6% 8.3% 18.4% 14.7% -6.7% 0.0%
90% Confidence Interval 3 ± 1.3 ± 1.5 ± 3.2 ± 3.2 ± 9.2 ± 10.5 ± 3.7 ± 4.2 ± 1.4 ± 1.5 ± 2.1 ± 2.3
March 2010 from March 2009 34.1% 50.8% 10.0% -8.4% 17.9% 42.9% 44.6% 56.9% 35.3% 44.5% 31.1% 68.7%
90% Confidence Interval 3 ± 2.6 ± 1.8 ± 21.9 ± 6.4 ± 5.4 ± 6.2 ± 8.3 ± 9.4 ± 3.3 ± 3.6 ± 4.8 ± 5.3
2008: 905.4 575.6 34.4 295.4 119.0 58.0 137.7 93.2 451.9 304.3 196.7 120.0
2009: 572.2 435.1 19.9 117.2 65.9 44.0 97.6 73.7 292.4 228.7 116.3 88.6
2009: Year to Date 2 119.1 80.1 4.5 34.5 12.2 7.3 14.9 10.3 67.4 47.8 24.5 14.7
2010: Year to Date 2 146.2 116.4 4.7 25.2 14.5 10.6 19.8 15.8 79.0 65.3 32.9 24.7
Year to Date Percent Change 4 22.8% 45.4% 4.4% -27.0% 19.1% 46.0% 32.8% 53.9% 17.2% 36.5% 34.2% 68.0%
3
90% Confidence Interval ± 2.4 ± 2.2 ± 11.3 ± 4.3 ± 8.4 ± 9.8 ± 8.3 ± 9.3 ± 1.6 ± 1.8 ± 6.4 ± 7.4
2009: March 44.0 32.3 1.8 10.0 4.3 2.9 6.7 4.7 24.0 18.7 8.9 6.0
April 46.5 37.3 1.6 7.7 5.0 3.6 7.8 6.5 23.9 19.3 9.8 7.9
May 48.2 38.8 1.6 7.7 5.1 3.9 8.8 7.6 24.3 19.3 10.0 8.1
June 59.5 46.2 2.3 11.0 6.5 4.4 10.3 8.2 30.8 23.8 12.0 9.8
July 54.7 46.1 1.6 6.9 5.8 4.5 10.7 8.3 26.2 23.6 12.0 9.7
August 52.4 42.2 1.6 8.6 5.8 4.1 9.4 7.8 26.8 21.6 10.4 8.6
September 51.3 40.0 1.7 9.6 5.9 4.3 9.9 7.4 24.9 20.2 10.6 8.2
October 46.5 37.9 1.2 7.4 5.7 4.3 9.8 7.3 21.8 18.7 9.3 7.6
November 40.7 31.4 2.0 7.4 5.1 3.5 8.0 5.6 20.4 16.2 7.3 6.1
December 47.4 34.1 1.4 12.0 6.9 3.8 7.4 4.5 23.8 18.4 9.3 7.4
2010: January 39.5 30.8 1.3 7.4 4.0 2.9 4.5 3.4 21.9 18.0 9.1 6.5
February (r) 44.1 35.0 1.3 7.8 4.8 3.6 5.3 4.6 23.0 19.2 10.9 7.6
March (p) 62.7 50.6 2.1 10.0 5.5 4.2 10.1 7.8 34.4 28.2 12.8 10.4
(p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.
X Not applicable. Z Relative standard error is less than 0.5 percent.
1 2
Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. Reflects revisions not distributed to months.
3 4
See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals. Computed using unrounded data.
Table 2. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized, but Not Started, at End of Period
[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]
2009: March 106.4 60.7 4.2 41.5 12.1 6.3 11.4 7.1 51.1 33.3 31.8 14.1
April 109.1 64.0 4.1 41.0 12.4 6.5 12.3 8.0 53.7 34.5 30.8 15.1
May 102.9 63.1 4.2 35.6 11.6 6.4 13.2 8.3 51.4 34.2 26.7 14.3
June 103.2 61.9 4.8 36.5 10.6 6.0 12.5 7.6 53.7 34.6 26.3 13.8
July 99.9 60.9 3.4 35.6 9.6 5.3 12.0 7.7 52.8 35.5 25.6 12.5
August 97.1 59.1 3.4 34.5 8.7 5.0 10.8 7.1 53.5 36.0 24.0 11.0
September 91.6 55.1 3.4 33.1 8.8 5.0 10.3 6.4 50.8 33.4 21.7 10.3
October 90.9 53.2 4.4 33.4 8.8 5.1 10.7 6.3 50.1 32.1 21.3 9.7
November 87.7 49.2 4.4 34.1 8.7 5.2 9.6 5.3 48.7 29.7 20.6 9.0
December 95.4 55.3 3.3 36.7 10.4 6.5 10.1 5.1 52.9 33.7 22.0 10.1
2010: January (r) 93.6 55.1 3.6 34.9 9.8 6.3 9.8 5.2 51.4 33.5 22.6 10.2
February (r) 96.0 55.2 3.3 37.6 10.5 6.8 8.8 4.5 53.8 33.9 23.0 10.0
March (p) 103.2 60.5 3.5 39.2 10.8 6.7 11.9 7.0 56.8 36.2 23.8 10.6
Percent Change: 2
March 2010 from February 2010 7.5% 9.7% 6.9% 4.3% 2.8% -1.3% 35.3% 55.7% 5.7% 7.0% 3.2% 5.7%
90% Confidence Interval 3 ± 4.2 ± 5.2 ± 9.7 ± 6.1 ± 6.5 ± 9.6 ± 10.1 ± 16.3 ± 5.4 ± 6.2 ± 7.3 ± 17.9
March 2010 from March 2009 -3.0% -0.4% -15.8% -5.5% -11.3% 7.0% 4.2% -1.9% 11.1% 8.8% -25.2% -24.9%
90% Confidence Interval 3 ± 7.0 ± 8.3 ± 22.0 ± 11.9 ± 16.9 ± 35.6 ± 16.7 ± 21.4 ± 14.7 ± 13.9 ± 11.1 ± 12.8
(p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.
1 2
Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. Computed using unrounded data.
3
See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals.
Note: These data represent the number of housing units authorized in all months up to and including the last day of the reporting period and not started as of that date without regard to the
months of original permit issuance. Cancelled, abandoned, expired, and revoked permits are excluded.
Table 3. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started
[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]
2010: January (r) 609 507 (S) 95 68 56 91 76 323 270 127 105
February (r) 616 536 (S) 63 72 54 116 104 285 262 143 116
Percent Change:
March 2010 from February 2010 1.6% -0.9% (S) 39.7% -8.3% 5.6% -28.4% -33.7% 18.2% 9.9% -2.1% 0.9%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 15.2 ± 12.1 (X) ± 87.2 ± 36.7 ± 51.4 ± 19.5 ± 16.8 ± 19.8 ± 21.1 ± 36.9 ± 42.5
March 2010 from March 2009 20.2% 47.1% (S) -31.8% -4.3% 29.5% -15.3% 19.0% 23.0% 47.7% 75.0% 82.8%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 15.3 ± 18.4 (X) ± 32.5 ± 29.4 ± 58.0 ± 21.9 ± 32.0 ± 17.1 ± 17.5 ± 52.0 ± 63.0
2008: 905.5 622.0 17.5 266.0 121.0 62.7 134.9 102.3 453.4 323.7 196.2 133.3
2009: 554.0 445.1 11.6 97.3 61.8 44.1 97.1 76.3 278.2 232.0 116.8 92.8
RSE (%) 1 1 14 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2
2009: Year to Date 114.4 78.3 4.1 32.0 11.1 6.8 15.5 9.0 63.9 47.3 23.9 15.2
2010: Year to Date 134.2 114.3 2.2 17.7 13.3 10.6 16.4 13.5 74.5 65.4 30.0 24.9
RSE (%) 3 3 22 11 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 5
Year to Date Percent Change 3 17.3% 46.0% -47.1% -44.6% 19.9% 56.1% 5.6% 48.8% 16.5% 38.3% 25.9% 63.8%
2
90% Confidence Interval ± 8.1 ± 9.9 ± 26.1 ± 12.1 ± 21.5 ± 41.6 ± 18.6 ± 24.3 ± 11.3 ± 11.2 ± 16.4 ± 24.9
2009: March 42.7 31.0 2.3 9.5 5.3 3.4 7.3 4.4 23.4 17.6 6.7 5.5
April 42.5 35.0 0.9 6.6 4.5 3.7 7.5 6.0 20.5 17.8 10.0 7.5
May 52.2 39.5 0.8 11.9 5.7 3.6 8.2 7.5 25.2 19.4 13.1 9.1
June 59.1 49.2 1.0 8.9 8.1 5.1 11.7 10.1 27.1 23.8 12.2 10.2
July 56.8 49.3 1.3 6.2 6.1 5.4 11.2 9.2 27.0 23.6 12.4 11.1
August 52.9 43.4 0.6 8.9 6.5 4.2 9.9 8.1 24.9 20.8 11.7 10.3
September 52.6 45.6 0.8 6.2 5.8 4.4 9.9 8.2 26.8 24.4 10.1 8.6
October 44.5 39.4 0.4 4.7 4.9 4.2 9.4 7.7 21.4 20.0 8.7 7.6
November 42.3 35.2 0.8 6.4 4.8 3.2 8.1 5.8 21.5 18.8 7.9 7.3
December 36.6 30.1 0.9 5.7 4.4 3.4 5.6 4.6 19.8 16.2 6.9 5.9
2010: January (r) 38.9 31.7 0.5 6.7 4.1 3.3 4.3 3.2 22.5 18.8 7.9 6.4
February (r) 41.3 35.7 1.2 4.4 3.9 2.7 5.9 5.1 21.3 19.6 10.1 8.2
March (p) 54.1 46.9 0.5 6.7 5.2 4.5 6.2 5.1 30.7 26.9 12.0 10.3
(p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.
X Not applicable.
1 2
Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals.
3
Computed using unrounded data.
Table 4. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Under Construction at End of Period
[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]
2009: March 719 347 (S) 353 149 54 95 61 288 146 187 86
2010: January (r) 503 300 (S) 192 111 45 79 55 191 133 122 67
February (r) 496 303 (S) 182 110 45 80 57 188 134 118 67
March (p) 489 305 (S) 173 108 45 78 56 187 137 116 67
Percent Change:
March 2010 from February 2010 -1.4% 0.7% (S) -4.9% -1.8% 0.0% -2.5% -1.8% -0.5% 2.2% -1.7% 0.0%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 1.4 ± 1.6 (X) ± 2.0 ± 1.5 ± 2.7 ± 1.5 ± 1.6 ± 2.2 ± 2.4 ± 3.1 ± 5.3
March 2010 from March 2009 -32.0% -12.1% (S) -51.0% -27.5% -16.7% -17.9% -8.2% -35.1% -6.2% -38.0% -22.1%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 2.7 ± 3.9 (X) ± 4.0 ± 7.0 ± 11.0 ± 7.1 ± 7.7 ± 3.9 ± 5.6 ± 4.5 ± 7.7
2009: March 701.6 331.4 18.8 351.4 145.6 50.6 89.7 56.2 283.4 141.8 182.7 82.7
April 672.9 323.6 17.7 331.5 138.2 49.5 87.9 55.6 269.8 137.1 177.0 81.4
May 654.2 320.0 17.2 317.0 136.6 49.0 85.7 56.1 259.9 133.9 172.0 81.0
June 640.2 323.7 17.1 299.4 133.7 50.5 88.4 58.8 249.7 134.0 168.5 80.4
July 626.6 330.4 16.6 279.7 130.8 50.6 90.1 61.8 243.9 136.9 161.8 81.0
August 605.7 327.3 15.1 263.3 129.8 50.5 88.0 60.9 230.1 134.8 157.7 81.2
September 592.8 327.9 14.4 250.4 126.8 49.7 88.0 61.7 225.9 137.3 152.1 79.3
October 563.9 315.7 13.6 234.6 123.3 47.6 87.4 61.6 211.2 132.4 141.9 74.1
November 534.8 300.8 13.2 220.8 119.9 46.7 84.0 57.7 199.3 127.8 131.6 68.5
December 495.4 283.1 11.9 200.4 112.2 43.7 76.4 53.0 183.6 121.7 123.2 64.6
2010: January (r) 483.5 283.4 10.5 189.6 107.8 42.8 74.9 51.8 183.1 125.7 117.7 63.1
February (r) 476.5 286.8 10.7 178.9 105.9 42.0 74.8 52.6 180.9 128.1 114.8 64.1
March (p) 476.8 292.8 10.9 173.1 106.2 43.1 74.1 52.1 183.0 133.2 113.4 64.5
(p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.
X Not applicable.
1 2
Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals.
Table 5. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Completed
[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]
2009: March 833 547 (S) 271 73 57 121 101 426 262 213 127
April 846 539 (S) 292 143 60 119 86 404 281 180 112
May 812 492 (S) 309 81 51 121 83 413 258 197 100
June 794 506 (S) 277 104 40 118 85 389 260 183 121
July 785 490 (S) 281 102 59 115 78 370 236 198 117
August 785 507 (S) 262 65 43 126 97 437 256 157 111
September 723 482 (S) 223 98 55 105 75 342 242 178 110
2010: January (r) 665 441 (S) 207 85 49 84 71 297 208 199 113
February (r) 677 459 (S) 211 86 52 86 68 335 235 170 104
March (p) 656 486 (S) 161 57 40 86 76 353 260 160 110
Percent Change:
March 2010 from February 2010 -3.1% 5.9% (S) -23.7% -33.7% -23.1% 0.0% 11.8% 5.4% 10.6% -5.9% 5.8%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 16.7 ± 14.6 (X) ± 40.1 ± 22.2 ± 23.6 ± 27.2 ± 29.6 ± 29.4 ± 20.8 ± 41.0 ± 53.5
March 2010 from March 2009 -21.2% -11.2% (S) -40.6% -21.9% -29.8% -28.9% -24.8% -17.1% -0.8% -24.9% -13.4%
90% Confidence Interval 2 ± 8.9 ± 12.5 (X) ± 18.0 ± 35.1 ± 34.2 ± 22.4 ± 26.0 ± 11.9 ± 17.0 ± 19.7 ± 24.8
2008: 1,119.7 818.8 23.7 277.2 109.6 72.9 178.2 138.6 567.4 417.5 264.4 189.9
2009: 794.4 520.1 14.5 259.8 94.2 53.8 119.2 89.3 393.5 259.0 187.5 118.1
RSE (%) 2 2 14 5 7 5 3 3 2 2 3 4
2009: Year to Date 173.2 116.8 2.5 53.9 17.8 10.3 24.2 19.4 87.0 60.4 44.3 26.7
2010: Year to Date 142.2 98.6 2.4 41.2 15.3 9.1 17.0 14.1 71.8 51.7 38.1 23.6
RSE (%) 4 3 37 10 9 11 10 11 6 5 8 5
Year to Date Percent Change 3 -17.9% -15.6% -6.0% -23.6% -14.2% -11.4% -29.6% -27.1% -17.5% -14.4% -14.0% -11.4%
2
90% Confidence Interval ± 6.0 ± 5.6 ± 67.2 ± 14.7 ± 23.8 ± 20.9 ± 12.5 ± 15.0 ± 8.3 ± 7.7 ± 14.8 ± 13.7
2009: March 62.1 41.3 1.1 19.7 4.8 3.6 8.3 6.9 32.2 20.3 16.8 10.5
April 65.5 41.3 1.2 23.0 10.9 4.4 9.1 6.4 31.7 22.0 13.8 8.5
May 68.1 41.1 0.9 26.1 6.7 4.2 10.0 6.8 35.0 21.9 16.4 8.2
June 70.3 44.4 1.0 24.9 9.4 3.6 10.3 7.3 34.3 22.7 16.4 10.8
July 66.4 41.1 1.2 24.2 8.6 4.9 9.4 6.3 31.4 19.9 17.0 10.0
August 73.9 44.5 1.7 27.8 6.3 3.9 11.9 8.9 41.3 22.1 14.5 9.6
September 64.4 43.9 1.5 19.1 8.9 5.3 9.9 7.3 29.8 21.2 15.9 10.1
October 67.4 49.0 1.3 17.1 9.0 6.4 9.0 7.7 32.3 23.1 17.2 11.9
November 72.6 50.1 1.3 21.2 8.5 4.7 13.1 9.7 33.7 22.9 17.3 12.7
December 72.4 48.0 2.0 22.5 8.1 6.2 12.3 9.5 37.2 22.7 14.8 9.6
2010: January (r) 46.3 30.0 1.3 15.1 5.8 3.2 5.5 4.5 21.2 14.7 13.9 7.6
February (r) 46.1 31.0 0.5 14.5 5.7 3.4 5.5 4.3 23.6 16.7 11.2 6.7
March (p) 49.8 37.6 0.6 11.6 3.7 2.5 6.0 5.3 27.0 20.3 13.0 9.3
(p) Prelminary. (r) Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.
X Not applicable.
1 2
Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals.
3
Computed using unrounded data.