Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.164 million in May, 0.3 percent below the revised April estimate of 1.167 million, but 9.5 percent above the May 2015 rate. Housing starts have remained above the 1.0 million rate for 14 consecutive months.
Housing activity was mixed across regions in May. Starts fell 33.3 percent in the Northeast and 2.5 percent in the Midwest, but rose 1.5 percent in the South and 14.4 percent in the West.
New building permits rose during the month, rising 0.7 percent above April’s rate to 1.138 million. New permits, however, declined year-over-year, falling 10.1 percent below the May 2015 rate.
Housing completions rose in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.988 million, 5.1 percent above April’s rate but down 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Read the Census release.
