HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS IN MARCH 1995 PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING STARTS Privately owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,211,000, according to estimates reported today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is 8 (+/-6) percent below the revised February rate of 1,315,000 and 19 percent below the March 1994 figure of 1,499,000. Single-family housing starts in March 1995 were at a rate of 979,000; this is 6 (+/-6) percent below the February figure of 1,041,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 203,000. The March rate for units in buildings with two to four units was 29,000. During the first 3 months of this year, 266,000 housing units were started compared with 294,000 units for the same period in 1994. This is a decrease of 10 (+/-3) percent. BUILDING PERMITS The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing units authorized by building permits in March was 1,231,000; this is 4 (+/-1) percent below the revised February rate of 1,287,000 and 8 percent below the March 1994 estimate of 1,331,000. Single-family authorizations in March 1995 were at a rate of 909,000; this is 3 (+/-1) percent below the February figure of 934,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 255,000; this is 14 percent below the February rate of 298,000. The March rate of permit-authorized units in buildings with two to four units was 67,000. During the first 3 months of this year, 273,200 housing units were authorized by building permits compared with 288,700 units for the same period in 1994. This is a decrease of 5 (+/-1) percent. MOBILE HOME SHIPMENTS Statistics on mobile home shipments, which lag by 1 month, appear in the Current Construction Reports, series C20. In February, manufacturers' shipments of mobile homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 335,000; this is 7 percent below the January figure of 361,000. The February 1994 rate was 298,000. Before seasonal adjustment, total shipments in February 1995 were 24,300. The next press release is scheduled to be issued on Tuesday, May 16, 1995, 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 3 months to establish an underlying trend for total starts, mobile home shipments and building permit authorizations. Except for those on mobile home shipments, 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 1995 Current Construction Reports, C20/95-1, 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. Statistics on mobile home shipments are compiled from manufacturers' reports to the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS). Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS STARTED BY TYPE OF STRUCTURE: MARCH 1995 In structures with - 3 and 4 5 units Period Total 1 unit 2 units units or more Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - March 1,499 1,259 30 210 April 1,463 1,209 31 223 May 1,489 1,197 36 256 June 1,370 1,174 18 178 July 1,440 1,219 32 189 August 1,463 1,174 40 249 September 1,511 1,235 42 234 October 1,451 1,164 39 248 November 1,536 1,186 62 288 December 1,545 1,250 33 262 1995 - January(r) 1,366 1,055 38 273 February(r) 1,315 1,041 44 230 MARCH(p) 1,211 979 29 203 AVG. RSE(%) 3 3 10 8 Not seasonally adjusted 1993 1,287.6 1,125.7 11.1 18.3 132.6 1994 1,457.0 1,198.4 14.8 20.2 223.5 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 13 6 1 1994 First 3 months 294.0 252.6 2.7 3.5 35.2 1995 First 3 months 266.0 212.1 3.5 3.6 46.8 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 9 19 5 1994 - March 134.3 114.6 1.1 1.9 16.7 April 137.6 114.3 1.1 2.1 20.2 May 148.8 122.3 1.6 1.5 23.4 June 136.4 117.6 0.7 1.2 17.0 July 127.8 110.4 1.1 1.6 14.7 August 139.8 110.1 1.9 2.4 25.3 September 130.1 105.2 1.4 2.0 21.5 October 130.6 101.3 1.4 1.6 26.3 November 113.4 87.8 2.5 2.5 20.7 December 98.5 76.8 0.4 2.0 19.3 1995 - January(r) 84.5 63.6 0.8 1.5 18.7 February(r) 80.9 64.4 1.4 1.1 14.0 MARCH(p) 100.6 84.1 1.3 1.0 14.2 AVG. RSE(%) 3 3 15 13 8 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. RSE for the last two years. YTD - Avg. RSE for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. RSE for the latest six month period (January-June or July-December). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Source: Construction Reports, Series C20, Housing Starts. The C20 Report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $15.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS STARTED BY REGION: MARCH 1995 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - March 1,499 137 349 641 372 April 1,463 150 355 615 343 May 1,489 135 323 684 347 June 1,370 137 306 602 325 July 1,440 131 340 600 369 August 1,463 148 319 681 315 September 1,511 136 337 659 379 October 1,451 130 313 648 360 November 1,536 159 380 661 336 December 1,545 139 341 714 351 1995 - January(r) 1,366 117 288 621 340 February(r) 1,315 132 284 552 347 MARCH(p) 1,211 137 268 531 275 AVG. RSE(%) 3 7 5 4 5 Not seasonally adjusted 1993 1,287.6 126.5 297.7 561.8 301.7 1994 1,457.0 138.2 328.9 639.1 350.8 AVG. RSE (%) 1 2 2 2 2 1994 First 3 months 294.0 20.2 51.5 142.1 80.2 1995 First 3 months 266.0 21.2 44.9 131.0 68.9 AVG. RSE (%) 2 6 3 3 3 1994 - March 134.3 9.5 28.5 61.4 34.9 April 137.6 14.0 34.6 58.1 30.9 May 148.8 13.5 35.6 66.7 33.0 June 136.4 15.1 34.1 55.6 31.6 July 127.8 12.3 31.3 50.5 33.7 August 139.8 14.9 32.3 61.1 31.4 September 130.1 11.9 30.6 55.1 32.4 October 130.6 12.2 32.0 55.9 30.5 November 113.4 14.3 28.3 47.5 23.3 December 98.5 9.6 18.6 46.6 23.7 1995 - January(r) 84.5 6.3 11.9 44.1 22.2 February(r) 80.9 5.9 12.7 39.5 22.9 MARCH(p) 100.6 9.1 20.2 47.4 23.9 AVG. RSE (%) 3 7 5 4 5 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. RSE for the last two years. YTD - Avg. RSE for the current period and the s period last year. Monthly - Avg. RSE for the latest six month period (January-June or July-December). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Source: Construction Reports, Series C20, Housing Starts. The C20 Report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $15.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica FIlipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS AUTHORIZED BY BUILDING PERMITS IN PERMIT-ISSUING PLACES BY TYPE OF STRUCTURE: MARCH 1995 In structures with - 3 and 4 5 units Period Total 1 unit 2 units units or more Seasonally adjusted annual rate (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - March 1,331 1,073 60 198 April 1,377 1,068 63 246 May 1,383 1,099 68 216 June 1,336 1,054 60 222 July 1,347 1,035 63 249 August 1,382 1,047 61 274 September 1,416 1,052 63 301 October 1,391 1,028 67 296 November 1,355 1,011 69 275 December 1,421 1,094 68 259 1995 - January 1,302 999 69 234 February(r) 1,287 934 55 298 MARCH(p) 1,231 909 67 255 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 4 2 Not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994(1) 1,332.3 1,027.7 29.6 31.5 243.5 1994 1,374.6 1,066.6 30.8 32.0 245.3 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 2 3 1 1994 First 3 months 288.7 237.9 6.1 5.8 38.9 1995 First 3 months 273.2 204.8 7.0 6.5 54.9 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 3 5 2 1994 - March 126.3 104.1 2.8 2.5 16.9 April 128.0 102.2 2.9 2.8 20.1 May 132.0 107.2 2.9 3.3 18.5 June 137.0 108.3 2.9 3.2 22.5 July 115.0 89.8 2.3 2.7 20.2 August 130.8 99.0 2.8 3.1 25.8 September 126.1 90.5 2.7 2.8 30.1 October 116.1 84.4 2.8 3.1 25.7 November 100.4 73.7 3.0 2.6 21.2 December 94.5 68.3 2.1 2.5 21.6 1995 - January 79.1 58.9 1.9 2.1 16.2 February(r) 81.3 60.3 2.0 1.4 17.6 MARCH(p) 112.8 85.7 3.1 3.0 21.0 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 6 6 2 Not started at end of period - not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - March(1) 125.8 78.2 3.7 43.8 1995 - January(r) 113.4 65.8 3.5 44.0 February(r) 114.0 65.3 3.6 45.1 MARCH(p) 129.9 73.3 5.8 50.9 AVG. RSE(%) 4 4 13 5 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. RSE for the last two years. YTD - Avg. RSE for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. RSE for the latest six month period (January-June or July-December). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. (1) In 17,000 permit-issuing places. Source: Construction Reports, Series C20, Housing Starts. The C20 Report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $15.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS AUTHORIZED BY BUILDING PERMITS IN PERMIT-ISSUING PLACES BY REGION: MARCH 1995 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - March 1,331 124 300 579 328 April 1,377 136 300 597 344 May 1,383 137 303 593 350 June 1,336 140 290 564 342 July 1,347 160 297 575 315 August 1,382 138 311 589 344 September 1,416 131 294 611 380 October 1,391 127 327 587 350 November 1,355 133 306 597 319 December 1,421 158 340 617 306 1995 - January 1,302 129 288 581 304 February(r) 1,287 115 282 547 343 MARCH(p) 1,231 121 271 564 275 AVG. RSE(%) 1 3 2 2 2 Not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994(1) 1,332.3 130.9 301.7 560.9 338.8 1994 1,374.6 136.6 305.7 591.1 341.1 AVG. RSE(%) 1 2 1 1 1 1994 First 3 months 288.7 20.9 53.2 139.1 75.6 1995 First 3 months 273.2 22.5 49.9 134.1 66.6 AVG. RSE(%) 1 2 1 1 1 1994 - March 126.3 10.4 27.1 57.0 31.7 April 128.0 12.5 29.5 54.8 31.2 May 132.0 13.7 32.1 54.0 32.1 June 137.0 15.0 30.4 54.9 36.6 July 115.0 14.5 26.7 46.7 27.0 August 130.8 13.7 31.4 53.7 32.0 September 126.1 11.8 28.0 53.8 32.5 October 116.1 11.5 30.2 45.7 28.8 November 100.4 11.0 23.2 43.3 23.0 December 94.5 10.2 19.9 42.8 21.6 1995 - January 79.1 6.5 12.3 41.5 18.8 February(r) 81.3 5.5 13.7 39.4 22.7 MARCH(p) 112.8 9.9 23.7 53.8 25.5 AVG. RSE(%) 1 3 2 2 2 Not started at end of period - not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - March(1) 125.8 21.6 20.3 61.8 22.0 1995 - January(r) 113.4 16.5 13.0 58.7 25.2 February(r) 114.0 16.1 13.6 59.6 24.6 MARCH(p) 129.9 17.1 17.6 68.7 26.5 AVG. RSE(%) 4 11 11 5 5 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. RSE for the last two years. YTD - Avg. RSE for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. RSE for the latest six month period (January-June or July-December). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. (1) In 17,000 permit-issuing places. Source: Construction Reports, Series C20, Housing Starts. The C20 Report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $15.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703.