The completion of new housing units strengthened last month. But new construction slowed, and multifamily dragged down permits.
Permit issuing places
issued a preliminary 112,900 building permits for privately owned housing units during just the month of May 2017.
Last month’s activity ascended from an downwardly revised 102,600
the preceding month and an upwardly revised 110,300 a year prior.
Based on historical data from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, which jointly released last month’s numbers Friday, there were
500,100 permits issued in the first-five months of this year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, permits were issued at an annual rate of 1.168 million last month. The rate tumbled from an downwardly revised 1.228 million in April and slipped from an upwardly revised 1.178 million in May 2016.
National Association of Home Builders Chairman Granger MacDonald commented in a written statement, “Today’s report is consistent with builder sentiment in the housing market, indicating some weakness after a strong start to the year.”
While the seasonally adjusted annual rate was off 2 percent from a month earlier to 779,000 on one-unit properties, it sank 10 percent on multifamily properties to 358,000.
Based on total permits, the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 293,000 in the West, sinking from April by 13 percent — the biggest decline of any region. A 9 percent drop left May’s rate at 174,000 in the Midwest, while the South was off less than a percent to 577,000.
Only the Northeast saw an increase from the prior month: 3 percent to 124,000 in May.
The report indicated that there were a seasonally adjusted 143,000 U.S. housing units authorized but not started as of May 31.
New construction was started at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.092 million. The rate fell 6 percent from April and 2 percent from May 2016.
There were a seasonally adjusted 1.067 million housing units under construction as of the end of last month.
Home builders completed construction on 96,700 housing units as of May, more than a downwardly revised 83,900 the prior month and an upwardly revised 83,500 a year prior.
On a seasonally adjusted annual basis, the rate of completed construction came in at 1.164 million during the most-recent month. The rate rose from a downwardly revised 1.102 million in April and an upwardly revised 1.016 million in May 2016.
One-unit homes were completed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 817,000, up 5 percent from the last report.
“Ongoing job growth, rising demand and low mortgage rates should keep the single-family sector moving forward this year, even as builders deal with ongoing shortages of lots and labor,” NAHB’s Granger said.
Multifamily construction was completed at an annual rate of 335,000, jumping 12 percent from April.
In the West, total construction was completed at an annual rate of 294,000 in May, climbing from the previous month by 26 percent — the most of any region. The Northeast jumped 23 percent to 111,000, and the South inched up 2 percent to 606,000.
The Midwest saw an 18 percent tumble from April to an annual rate of 153,000.
