Building Permits    

• Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,873,000. This is 9.1 percent above the revised November rate of 1,717,000 and is 6.5 percent above the December 2020 rate of 1,758,000. 
• Single‐family authorizations in December were at a rate of 1,128,000; this is 2.0 percent above the revised November figure of 1,106,000. 
• Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 675,000 in December.
• An estimated 1,724,700 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2021. This is 17.2 percent above the 2020 figure of 1,471,100. 

Housing Starts 

• Privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,702,000. This is 1.4 percent above the revised November estimate of 1,678,000 and is 2.5 percent  above the December 2020 rate of 1,661,000. 
• Single‐family housing starts in December were at a rate of 1,172,000; this is 2.3 percent below the revised November figure of 1,199,000. 
• The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 524,000. 

Housing Completions 

• Privately‐owned housing completions in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,295,000. This is 8.7 percent below the revised November estimate of 1,418,000 and is 6.6 percent  below the December 2020 rate of 1,386,000.
• Single‐family housing completions in December were at a rate of 990,000; this is 3.9 percent above the revised November rate of 953,000. 
• The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 299,000. An estimated 1,337,800 housing units were completed in 2021. This is 4.0 percent  above the 2020 figure of 1,286,900.  

Multi-Family Surge 

The Bloomberg Econoday consensus estimate was 1.65 million starts and 1.71 million permits at seasonally-adjusted, annualized rates.

Permits were well over expectations but of the 9.1% jump in December, only 2.0% was in single-family units.

Housing starts rose 1.4% but single-family starts declined 2.3%.

Completions lag due to delays in materials and equipment as well as labor shortages.