U.S. Census Bureau: Monthly New Residential Construction, April 2023

Notice of Revision: With this release, unadjusted estimates of housing units authorized by building permits for January through December 2022 have been revised. Also, seasonally adjusted estimates of housing units authorized by building permits have been revised back to January 2017, and seasonally adjusted estimates of housing units authorized but not started, started, under construction, and completed have been revised back to January 2018. All revised estimates are available on our website.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for April 2023:

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000. This is 1.5 percent below the revised March rate of 1,437,000 and is 21.1 percent below the April 2022 rate of 1,795,000. Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 855,000; this is 3.1 percent above the revised March figure of 829,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 502,000 in April.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,401,000. This is 2.2 percent (±11.9 percent)* above the revised March estimate of 1,371,000, but is 22.3 percent (±8.7 percent) below the April 2022 rate of 1,803,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 846,000; this is 1.6 percent (±12.3 percent)* above the revised March figure of 833,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 542,000.

Housing Completions

Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,375,000. This is 10.4 percent (±9.9 percent) below the revised March estimate of 1,534,000, but is 1.0 percent (±16.4 percent)* above the April 2022 rate of 1,361,000. Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 971,000; this is 6.5 percent (±11.0 percent)* below the revised March rate of 1,039,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 400,000.

The May report is scheduled for release on June 20, 2023.  View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room: < www.census.gov/economic-indicators/ >.  The full text and tables for this release can be found at < www.census.gov/construction/nrc/>.

The original report can be read here.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau