The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have now published their findings for April new residential housing starts.
The latest reading of 1.135M was well above the Investing.com forecast of 1.019M.
Here is the opening of this morning’s monthly report:
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,135,000. This is 20.2 percent (±14.4%) above the revised March estimate of 944,000 and is 9.2 percent (±10.6%)* above the April 2014 rate of 1,039,000.
Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 733,000; this is 16.7 percent (±10.6%) above the revised March figure of 628,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 389,000. [link to report]
Here is the historical series for the total privately-owned housing starts, which dates from 1959. Because of the extreme volatility of the monthly data points, a 3-month moving average has been included.
The Population-Adjusted Reality
Here is the data with a simple population adjustment. The Census Bureau’s mid-month population estimates show substantial growth in the US population since 1959. Here is a chart of housing starts as a percent of the population.
