Bureau of the Census For Release 8:30 A.M. EST, Friday, March 16, 2001 HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS IN FEBRUARY 2001 PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING STARTS Privately owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,647,000, according to estimates reported today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is virtually unchanged (+/-6 percent) from the revised January rate of 1,653,000, but is 10 (+/-7) percent below the February 2000 rate of 1,822,000. Single-family housing starts in February 2001 were at a rate of 1,315,000; this is 2 (+/-6) percent below the January figure of 1,347,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 309,000. The February rate for units in buildings with two to four units was 23,000. During the first 2 months of this year, 214,400 housing units were started compared with 227,300 units for the same period in 2000. This is a decrease of 6 (+/-6) percent. BUILDING PERMITS The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing units authorized by building permits in February was 1,670,000. This is 3 (+/-1) percent below the revised January rate of 1,724,000, but 1 (+/-1) percent above the February 2000 estimate of 1,661,000. Single-family authorizations in February 2001 were at a rate of 1,237,000; this is 4 (+/-1) percent below the January figure of 1,287,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 359,000 in February. The February rate of permit-authorized units in buildings with two to four units was 74,000. During the first 2 months of this year, 226,200 housing units were authorized compared with 219,400 units for the same period in 2000. This is an increase of 3 (+/-1) percent. The next press release is scheduled to be issued on Tuesday, April 17, 2001, at 8:30 A.M. EDT. EXPLANATORY NOTES In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to- month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take 5 months to establish an underlying trend for total starts and 3 months for building permit authorizations. The statistics in this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated average relative standard errors of preliminary data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as "2 (+/-3) percent above" appears in the text, this indicates the range (-1 to +5 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90- percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range contains zero, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease; that is, the change is not statistically significant. For any comparison cited without a confidence interval, the change is statistically significant. The January 2001 Current Construction Reports, C20/01-1, includes explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates of total housing starts and building permits are revised about +/-1 percent. Table 1. New Privately Owned Housing Units Started (Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.) In structures with -- Period Total North- Midwest South West 3 and 4 5 units east 1 unit 2 units units or more 1a. Seasonally adjusted annual rate 2000 - February 1822 1324 40 458 189 471 748 414 March 1630 1327 16 287 155 330 772 373 April 1652 1310 30 312 140 370 710 432 May 1591 1258 26 307 148 345 737 361 June 1571 1227 39 305 144 301 762 364 July 1527 1201 43 283 144 318 674 391 August 1519 1229 41 249 145 299 703 372 September 1537 1226 41 270 157 308 674 398 October 1529 1232 40 257 158 317 720 334 November 1564 1233 41 290 146 326 670 422 December (r) 1577 1298 37 242 167 255 714 441 2001 - January (r) 1653 1347 41 265 124 373 747 409 February (p) 1647 1315 23 309 150 363 758 376 Average RSE (%) 3 3 9 9 7 6 4 4 1b. Not seasonally adjusted 1999 1666.5 1334.9 13.4 18.5 299.7 153.7 356.4 760.3 396.1 2000 (r) 1593.1 1261.8 13.8 22.3 295.3 152.1 328.6 723.4 389.1 Average RSE (%) 1 1 7 11 3 3 2 1 1 2000 First 2 months 227.3 170.7 1.8 2.4 52.4 18.0 38.8 113.5 57.0 2001 First 2 months 214.4 172.5 1.6 2.1 38.2 14.7 33.8 110.5 55.4 Average RSE (%) 3 2 13 25 11 19 5 3 3 2000 - February 122.1 90.2 0.9 1.7 29.4 9.9 22.9 58.1 31.2 March 137.2 115.3 0.7 0.5 20.7 11.9 25.4 68.4 31.5 April 151.8 121.5 1.3 1.4 27.5 12.2 35.8 65.6 38.1 May 155.3 125.7 1.4 0.7 27.5 14.2 35.6 70.2 35.3 June 148.5 118.7 1.0 3.2 25.6 14.2 31.4 68.2 34.6 July 138.0 108.5 1.0 3.3 25.2 14.6 30.8 57.6 34.9 August 142.0 114.8 1.0 2.9 23.2 13.9 29.8 62.6 35.7 September 132.4 104.6 1.2 2.4 24.3 14.2 28.6 56.0 33.7 October 141.3 111.0 2.1 2.1 26.1 15.2 32.6 64.6 28.9 November 117.8 90.7 1.2 2.0 23.9 12.1 25.5 49.3 30.9 December (r) 101.6 80.2 1.0 1.4 18.9 11.4 14.4 47.3 28.5 2001 - January (r) 105.2 85.2 1.0 1.3 17.7 6.4 16.1 53.4 29.2 February (p) 109.2 87.3 0.6 0.8 20.6 8.3 17.7 57.0 26.2 Average RSE (%) 3 3 11 13 9 7 6 4 4 (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Average relative standard error (Avg. RSE): Annual -- Avg. RSE for the last 2 years; Year to Date -- Avg. RSE for the current period and the same period last year; Monthly -- Avg. RSE for the latest 6 month period (January-June or July-December). Table 2. Privately Owned Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits (Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.) In structures with -- Period Total North- Midwest South West 3 and 4 5 units east 1 unit 2 units units or more 2a. Seasonally adjusted annual rate (19,000 permit-issuing places) 2000 - February 1661 1223 67 371 162 360 732 407 March 1597 1238 68 291 164 364 679 390 April 1559 1164 58 337 162 342 664 391 May 1511 1150 62 299 153 310 683 365 June 1528 1127 61 340 150 311 675 392 July 1511 1117 55 339 156 316 666 373 August 1486 1140 66 280 140 300 644 402 September 1518 1157 65 296 159 311 669 379 October 1546 1191 66 289 152 327 680 387 November 1598 1183 67 348 168 294 723 413 December 1507 1158 53 296 145 263 667 432 2001 - January (r) 1724 1287 57 380 148 343 759 474 February (p) 1670 1237 74 359 195 327 731 417 Average RSE (%) 1 (Z) 5 2 2 2 1 1 2b. Not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1999 1663.5 1246.7 32.5 33.3 351.1 164.9 345.4 748.9 404.3 2000 1574.4 1183.5 30.1 32.4 328.4 161.1 318.1 697.4 397.8 Average RSE (%) (Z) (Z) 2 3 (Z) 1 1 1 1 2000 First 2 months 219.4 162.3 4.2 4.0 48.8 19.7 36.7 106.3 56.7 2001 First 2 months 226.2 167.5 4.1 4.4 50.2 19.3 35.2 110.2 61.6 Average RSE (%) (Z) (Z) 3 3 (Z) 2 1 1 1 2000 - February 115.1 85.9 2.5 2.2 24.5 9.1 20.4 56.5 29.1 March 147.0 116.3 2.7 3.1 24.8 14.1 32.2 64.8 36.0 April 135.1 104.1 2.4 2.5 26.0 14.2 31.6 56.3 33.1 May 145.3 116.0 2.5 3.2 23.6 15.1 32.3 63.1 34.8 June 151.9 112.4 3.1 3.0 33.4 15.7 30.2 65.1 40.9 July 128.3 96.4 2.2 2.2 27.5 13.9 27.7 54.5 32.2 August 141.1 108.9 2.9 3.3 26.0 13.8 30.2 59.1 38.0 September 129.1 94.9 2.3 3.3 28.6 13.6 27.3 56.3 32.0 October 134.5 101.6 3.1 3.4 26.4 13.6 31.5 57.3 32.1 November 119.6 86.2 2.4 3.0 28.0 13.7 23.1 52.9 29.8 December 100.6 72.2 1.8 1.8 24.8 9.7 15.1 46.0 29.8 2001 - January (r) 114.8 84.2 1.6 2.0 27.1 8.6 16.9 56.3 33.0 February (p) 111.3 83.3 2.4 2.4 23.1 10.7 18.2 53.9 28.6 Average RSE (%) 1 (Z) 5 4 2 2 2 1 1 2c. Not started at end of period - not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 2000 - February 132.4 80.2 3.1 49.0 15.9 14.1 76.3 26.1 December (r) 132.2 79.0 4.2 49.1 16.0 19.0 67.3 29.9 2001 - January (r) 140.6 82.1 3.5 55.0 17.2 19.2 70.8 33.3 February (p) 145.8 85.9 5.2 54.8 18.6 20.4 70.4 36.4 Average RSE (%) 3 4 8 5 13 8 4 6 (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Average relative standard error (Avg. RSE): Annual -- Avg. RSE for the last 2 years; Year to Date -- Avg. RSE for the current period and the same period last year; Monthly -- Avg. RSE for the latest 6 month period (January-June or July-December). Questions regarding these data may be directed to the Manufacturing and Construction Division, Residential Construction Branch, telephone(301)457-1321.