HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS IN AUGUST 1995 PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING STARTS Privately owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,398,000, according to estimates reported today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is 1 (+/-7) percent above the revised July rate of 1,390,000, but 4 (+/-7) percent below the August 1994 rate of 1,463,000. Single-family housing starts in August 1995 were at a rate of 1,113,000; this is 1 (+/-6) percent above the July figure of 1,098,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 250,000. The August rate for units in buildings with two to four units was 35,000. During the first 8 months of this year, 902,800 housing units were started compared with 984,400 units for the same period in 1994. This is a decrease of 8 (+/-2) percent. BUILDING PERMITS The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing units authorized by building permits in August was 1,357,000; this is virtually unchanged (+/-1 percent) from the revised July rate of 1,355,000, but 2 (+/-2) percent below the August 1994 estimate of 1,386,000. Single-family authorizations in August 1995 were at a rate of 1,046,000; this is 3 (+/-1) percent above the July figure of 1,011,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 246,000; this is 13 percent below the July rate of 283,000. The August rate of permit-authorized units in buildings with two to four units was 65,000. During the first 8 months of this year, 883,600 housing units were authorized by building permits compared with 932,800 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 July, manufacturers' shipments of mobile homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000, 3 percent below the June rate of 329,000. The July 1994 rate was 289,000. Before seasonal adjustment, total shipments in July 1995 were 24,700. The next press release is scheduled to be issued on Thursday, October 19, 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 April 1995 Current Construction Reports, C20/95-4, 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: AUGUST 1995 In structures with - 3 and 4 5 units Period Total 1 unit 2 units units or more Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - 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 1,366 1,055 38 273 February 1,319 1,048 42 229 March 1,238 987 35 216 April 1,269 1,009 26 234 May 1,282 988 36 258 June(r) 1,298 1,034 33 231 July(r) 1,390 1,098 38 254 AUGUST(p) 1,398 1,113 35 250 AVG. RSE(%) 3 3 13 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 8 months 984.4 827.3 9.1 12.2 135.7 1995 First 8 months 902.8 719.2 10.9 13.1 159.6 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 9 7 2 1994 - 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 84.5 63.6 0.8 1.5 18.7 February 81.6 65.3 1.4 1.0 13.8 March 103.8 85.3 1.4 1.8 15.3 April 116.9 93.9 1.1 1.1 20.8 May 130.5 102.3 1.3 1.8 25.0 June(r) 123.4 100.5 1.6 1.9 19.4 July(r) 125.0 101.5 1.8 1.7 20.1 AUGUST(p) 137.2 106.9 1.4 2.3 26.5 AVG. RSE(%) 3 3 14 20 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: AUGUST 1995 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - 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 1,366 117 288 621 340 February 1,319 131 280 562 346 March 1,238 140 271 550 277 April 1,269 109 273 571 316 May 1,282 128 251 565 338 June(r) 1,298 123 286 570 319 July(r) 1,390 115 282 665 328 AUGUST(p) 1,398 117 308 644 329 AVG. RSE(%) 3 8 5 4 6 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 8 months 984.4 90.1 219.4 434.1 240.8 1995 First 8 months 902.8 79.9 189.0 410.3 223.6 AVG. RSE (%) 1 2 2 2 2 1994 - 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 84.5 6.3 11.9 44.1 22.2 February 81.6 5.9 12.7 40.2 22.9 March 103.8 9.5 20.7 49.3 24.2 April 116.9 9.6 25.9 53.5 27.9 May 130.5 13.1 27.7 56.5 33.2 June(r) 123.4 13.1 31.0 49.5 29.9 July(r) 125.0 10.6 26.0 58.7 29.8 AUGUST(p) 137.2 11.9 33.2 58.5 33.5 AVG. RSE (%) 3 8 5 4 6 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: AUGUST 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 - August 1,386 1,063 59 264 September 1,426 1,066 61 299 October 1,401 1,046 69 286 November 1,358 1,025 68 265 December 1,420 1,105 61 254 1995 - January 1,293 990 66 237 February 1,282 931 54 297 March 1,235 911 67 257 April 1,243 905 61 277 May 1,243 930 63 250 June 1,275 958 65 252 July(r) 1,355 1,011 61 283 AUGUST(p) 1,357 1,046 65 246 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 4 1 Not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1993 1,333.7 1,034.5 30.5 30.3 238.4 1994 1,371.6 1,068.5 31.4 30.8 241.0 AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 1994 First 8 months 932.8 747.3 20.3 20.7 144.5 1995 First 8 months 883.6 672.7 22.0 20.5 168.4 AVG. RSE(%) 1 (Z) 2 3 1 1994 - August 131.5 100.9 2.9 2.8 24.9 September 127.2 91.5 2.7 2.6 30.3 October 117.0 85.9 3.1 3.1 24.9 November 100.5 74.8 3.1 2.3 20.3 December 94.2 68.9 2.1 2.1 21.0 1995 - January 79.1 58.9 1.9 2.1 16.2 February 81.3 60.3 2.0 1.4 17.6 March 113.4 86.0 3.1 3.0 21.3 April 110.2 83.2 2.8 2.5 21.6 May 122.7 95.4 3.4 2.7 21.3 June 129.3 97.5 3.3 3.3 25.1 July(r) 116.4 88.5 2.3 2.4 23.2 AUGUST(p) 131.0 101.1 3.4 3.1 23.4 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 5 5 1 Not started at end of period - not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - August(1) 121.2 73.9 4.4 42.9 1995 - June(r) 134.5 78.5 5.7 50.3 July(r) 130.2 73.2 4.6 52.4 AUGUST(p) 131.4 77.3 6.2 48.0 AVG. RSE(%) 4 4 11 6 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: AUGUST 1995 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - August 1,386 143 306 590 347 September 1,426 136 297 616 377 October 1,401 131 324 592 354 November 1,358 138 304 599 317 December 1,420 168 325 616 311 1995 - January 1,293 128 285 578 302 February 1,282 115 280 547 340 March 1,235 125 275 564 271 April 1,243 128 269 540 306 May 1,243 115 266 539 323 June 1,275 114 280 556 325 July(r) 1,355 113 297 601 344 AUGUST(p) 1,357 116 309 588 344 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 1 1 1 Not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1993 1,333.7 133.9 299.1 560.5 340.3 1994 1,371.6 138.5 305.2 585.5 342.4 AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 1994 First 8 months 932.8 92.0 205.2 399.1 236.4 1995 First 8 months 883.6 81.2 192.7 389.5 220.2 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 1 1 1 1994 - August 131.5 14.2 30.7 54.1 32.5 September 127.2 12.3 28.3 54.3 32.2 October 117.0 11.9 29.9 46.0 29.2 November 100.5 11.5 23.0 43.4 22.6 December 94.2 10.8 18.8 42.6 22.0 1995 - January 79.1 6.5 12.3 41.5 18.8 February 81.3 5.5 13.7 39.4 22.7 March 113.4 10.2 24.1 53.9 25.2 April 110.2 11.3 24.9 47.2 26.8 May 122.7 12.0 29.5 50.6 30.6 June 129.3 12.1 29.3 53.4 34.5 July(r) 116.4 10.5 27.0 49.2 29.8 AUGUST(p) 131.0 11.7 31.8 54.6 33.0 AVG. RSE(%) 1 1 1 1 1 Not started at end of period - not seasonally adjusted (19,000 permit-issuing places) 1994 - August(1) 121.2 18.3 17.2 59.0 26.6 1995 - June(r) 134.5 17.0 19.2 69.8 28.5 July(r) 130.2 16.4 19.7 65.6 28.6 AUGUST(p) 131.4 16.1 19.9 66.5 29.0 AVG. RSE(%) 4 11 7 5 7 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.