Weaker apartment construction dragged down residential building permits last month. But a surge in the Midwest led completed construction higher.
New building permits for privately owned housing units came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.232 million for the month of December 2015.
Prospective housing construction was off compared to November, when the seasonally adjusted annual rate was a downwardly revised 1.282 million.
But activity was stronger than in December 2014, when the annual rate was 1.077 million.
The data was jointly reported Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Although permits for one-unit properties were up two percent from the previous month, and permits for two- to four-unit properties soared 28 percent — permits for multifamily properties tumbled 14 percent.
In just the Midwest, permits for all property types tumbled 22 percent to an annual rate of 159,000.
An 18 percent decline in the West left the rate there at 262,000, while a four percent drop in the South put that rate at 602,000.
The Northeast, however, saw a 62 percent surge, resulting in an annual rate of 209,000.
Without any seasonal adjustments, there were
99,800 permits issued on U.S. properties last month.
The report indicated that
there were a seasonally adjusted 150,000 U.S. housing units authorized but not started as of the end of 2015.
Home builders broke ground on new construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.149 million, off three percent from a month earlier but six percent better than a year earlier.
As of Dec. 31, 2015, a seasonally adjusted 981,000 housing units were under construction. The work in progress was two percent more than at the end of the prior month and 19 percent more than at the end of 2014.
Construction was completed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.013 million in the final month of last year.
Completed construction increased six percent from November and eight percent from December 2014.
Completed construction during December skyrocketed 56 percent in the Midwest versus
the previous month, while a 12 percent gain was reported for the West.
But in the South, the rate retreated two percent, while is sank 19 percent in the Northeast.
