The volume of building permits was the highest it’s been in two years. Even more impressive was completed construction, which soared to the highest level in nearly a decade.
Building permits were issued on
a preliminary 125,400 privately-owned housing units during all of June — the most since 134,800 were issued in June 2015.
In May 2017,
an upwardly revised 113,000 units were authorized in permit-issuing places. The total was an upwardly revised 117,600 in June 2016.
Historical data from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, which jointly released last month’s numbers on Wednesday, indicate that 625,600 permits were issued in the first-half 2017.
Applying seasonal adjustments, June 2017’s annual rate of permit issuance was 1.254 million, accelerating from 1.168 million a month earlier and an upwardly revised 1.193 million a year earlier.
National Association of Home Builders Chairman Granger MacDonald commented, “We are encouraged by the June production report, but our builders continue to express concerns about lot and labor shortages, and building materials price increases.”
In the Midwest, the seasonally adjusted annual permit rate was 207,000 during June 2017, soaring 20 percent from the preceding month. A 10 percent rise left the rate in the West at 323,000, and a 7 percent increase in the South put the annual rate there at 619,000.
Only the Northeast, where the annual rate was 105,000, saw a decline: 14 percent.
The U.S. annual permit rate on one-unit properties
rose 4 percent from May to 811,000, while the multifamily rate jumped 15 percent to 409,000 in June.
As of mid-2017, there were a seasonally adjusted 143,000 housing units authorized by not started.
Last month saw new housing construction started at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.215 million. The rate strengthened from an upwardly revised 1.122 million in May and an upwardly revised 1.190 million in June 2016.
The latest activity left a seasonally adjusted 1.070 million units under construction at the end of June 2017.
Construction was completed
on 106,700 housing units last month — the most units since December 2007, when the total came to 126,800.
May 2017 saw a downwardly revised 94,800 units completed, while the number was a downwardly revised 97,900 a year prior.
For all six months that have elapsed so far in 2017, there have been 530,400 housing units completed.
Adjusting for seasonal factors, the annual rate of completed construction was 1.203 million last month, more than a downwardly revised 1.144 million the prior month and a downwardly revised 1.113 million a year prior.
Construction was completed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 210,000 in the Midwest, improving from May by a stunning 42 percent — the biggest gain of any region. A 19 percent ascension left the rate at 343,000 in the West, while the Northeast was up 10 percent to an annual rate of 115,000.
At an annual rate of 535,000, only the South had a month-over-month decline: 11 percent.
June 2017’s seasonally adjusted U.S. annual rate on one-unit properties completed was 798,000, while the five-or-more-unit rate was 396,000.
