A Record Number of Housing Units Were Under Construction in November

Privately owned housing starts in November fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,427,000, down 0.5 percent from the revised October estimate of 1,434,000 and 16.4 percent below the November 2021 rate of 1,706,000, Bill McBride reports in the CalculatedRisk Newsletter. Similarly, building permits for privately owned housing units in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,342,000, an 11.2 percent drop from the revised October rate of 1,512,000 and down 22.4 percent from the November 2021 rate of 1,729,000.

On the contrary, the total number of housing units under construction is up to a record high 1.709 million with 777 thousand single family units under construction and 932 thousand multi-family units under construction, the highest level since December 1973.

There are a record number of total housing units under construction due to construction delays, but the number of single-family housing units under construction is now declining.

Homebuilders are reporting that demand has slowed, yet a large number of housing units will be delivered over the next year (with all these units under construction).

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