HOUSING UNITS COMPLETED IN MARCH 1996 AT AN ANNUAL RATE OF 1,390,000 Privately owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,390,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5 (+/-9) percent above the revised February rate of 1,322,000, but 4 (+/-8 percent) below the March 1995 estimate of 1,442,000. The March 1996 rate of single-family housing completions was 1,111,000; this is 6 (+/-9) percent above the February figure of 1,049,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 247,000. The March rate for units in buildings with two to four units was 32,000. During the first 3 months of this year, 292,400 housing units were completed; this is virtually unchanged (+/-4 percent) from the 291,400 units completed in the same period in 1995. At the end of March, the seasonally adjusted estimate of housing units under construction was 821,000; this is 2 (+/-1) percent above the revised February figure of 804,000. Of these, 583,000 units were single-family structures, 218,000 were in buildings with five units or more, and 20,000 were in buildings with two to four units. The next press release is scheduled to be issued on Wednesday, June 5, 1996, at 10:00 A.M. EDT. EXPLANATORY NOTES In interpreting changes in the seasonally adjusted rate of housing completions, note that month-to-month changes often show movements which may be irregular. It may take 3 months to establish an underlying trend for total completions. 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 issue of Current Construction Reports, C22/96-1, includes explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimate of total housing completions is revised about +/-1 percent. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS COMPLETED BY TYPE OF STRUCTURE: MARCH 1996 In structures with -- 3 and 4 5 units Period Total 1 unit 2 units units or more Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - March 1,442 1,220 34 188 April 1,331 1,085 39 207 May 1,324 1,058 32 234 June 1,256 1,049 32 175 July 1,332 1,034 43 255 August 1,247 1,019 26 202 September 1,267 1,009 30 228 October 1,320 1,039 25 256 November 1,360 1,081 39 240 December 1,225 1,003 30 192 1996 - January(r) 1,403 1,113 28 262 February(r) 1,322 1,049 32 241 MARCH(p) 1,390 1,111 32 247 AVG. RSE (%) 3 3 18 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1994 1,346.9 1,160.3 12.1 19.5 154.9 1995 1,312.6 1,065.5 14.8 19.8 212.4 AVG. RSE (%) 1 1 13 7 2 1995 First 3 months 291.4 245.9 3.8 4.8 37.0 1996 First 3 months 292.4 234.6 2.0 4.7 51.1 AVG. RSE (%) 2 2 19 17 6 1995 - March 105.1 89.1 1.1 1.7 13.2 April 101.5 82.1 1.3 1.8 16.3 May 107.8 86.8 1.3 1.4 18.4 June 108.7 89.4 1.3 1.5 16.6 July 115.5 88.2 1.8 2.4 23.1 August 115.5 92.1 0.7 1.7 21.0 September 115.5 91.9 1.4 1.0 21.2 October 125.4 100.1 1.0 1.2 23.0 November 116.0 92.6 1.4 2.6 19.4 December 115.3 96.6 1.0 1.4 16.4 1996 - January(r) 99.3 79.4 0.6 1.4 17.9 February(r) 90.2 71.7 0.7 1.4 16.3 MARCH(p) 102.9 83.4 0.6 2.0 16.9 AVG. RSE (%) 3 3 25 24 9 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. 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). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Source: Construction Reports, Series C22, Housing Completions. The C22 report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual Subscription: $11.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS COMPLETED BY LOCATION: MARCH 1996 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - March 1,442 142 321 603 376 April 1,331 101 346 581 303 May 1,324 141 316 565 302 June 1,256 119 273 549 315 July 1,332 148 307 568 309 August 1,247 101 266 573 307 September 1,267 124 277 559 307 October 1,320 127 255 604 334 November 1,360 104 270 630 356 December 1,225 136 225 561 303 1996 - January(r) 1,403 112 323 612 356 February(r) 1,322 143 239 587 353 MARCH(p) 1,390 100 296 636 358 AVG. RSE (%) 3 10 7 5 6 Not seasonally adjusted 1994 1,346.9 123.4 307.1 580.9 335.5 1995 1,312.6 126.9 287.9 581.1 316.7 AVG. RSE (%) 1 3 2 2 2 1995 First 3 months 291.4 29.7 62.1 130.3 69.2 1996 First 3 months 292.4 24.6 55.3 135.2 77.4 AVG. RSE (%) 2 6 3 4 4 1995 - March 105.1 9.9 20.7 46.6 27.8 April 101.5 7.2 25.9 44.5 23.9 May 107.8 11.2 24.8 46.9 24.9 June 108.7 10.3 24.7 48.1 25.7 July 115.5 13.3 25.9 48.9 27.4 August 115.5 8.8 25.8 53.5 27.3 September 115.5 11.1 27.0 49.7 27.7 October 125.4 12.7 25.9 56.2 30.6 November 116.0 9.7 25.0 51.1 30.3 December 115.3 12.9 20.8 52.0 29.6 1996 - January(r) 99.3 8.4 21.0 43.9 26.0 February(r) 90.2 9.4 14.8 41.2 24.8 MARCH(p) 102.9 6.8 19.4 50.1 26.6 AVG. RSE (%) 3 10 7 5 6 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. 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). (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (Z) Less than 50 units or less than 0.5 percent. Source: Construction Reports, Series C22, Housing Completions. The C22 report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual Subscription: $11.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT END OF PERIOD BY TYPE OF STRUCTURE: MARCH 1996 In structures with -- 3 and 4 5 units Period Total 1 unit 2 units units or more Seasonally adjusted 1995 - March 769 553 21 195 April 762 545 20 197 May 755 537 21 197 June 755 533 22 200 July 762 539 21 202 August 772 547 21 204 September 783 555 21 207 October 781 560 21 200 November 790 562 20 208 December 800 569 22 209 1996 - January(r) 803 569 20 214 February(r) 804 570 19 215 MARCH(p) 821 583 20 218 AVG. RSE (%) 1 2 6 2 Not seasonally adjusted 1995 - March 732.3 520.5 8.7 12.3 190.9 April 747.4 530.6 8.5 11.9 196.4 May 764.1 543.2 8.6 12.2 200.2 June 775.7 551.4 8.9 12.9 202.4 July 787.7 564.3 8.9 11.8 202.8 August 808.1 579.7 8.9 12.6 206.9 September 813.4 584.7 9.1 12.7 206.8 October 811.1 583.5 8.9 13.3 205.5 November 800.5 571.9 8.7 12.1 207.8 December 775.9 547.2 8.4 12.7 207.7 1996 - January(r) 763.7 533.7 7.6 11.9 210.4 February(r) 768.8 535.9 7.7 11.6 213.6 MARCH(p) 779.8 548.6 8.3 10.9 212.1 AVG. RSE (%) 1 2 11 7 2 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE (%): Avg. RSE for the latest 6-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 C22, Housing Completions. The C22 report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual Subscription: $11.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703. NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT END OF PERIOD BY LOCATION: MARCH 1996 North- Mid- Period Total east west South West Seasonally adjusted 1995 - March 769 95 170 320 184 April 762 95 164 319 184 May 755 93 155 318 189 June 755 92 157 317 189 July 762 90 155 328 189 August 772 90 159 331 192 September 783 90 162 336 195 October 781 90 165 333 193 November 790 89 170 339 192 December 800 87 175 345 193 1996 - January(r) 803 86 177 346 194 February(r) 804 83 182 341 198 MARCH(p) 821 88 186 349 198 AVG. RSE (%) 1 4 2 2 3 Not seasonally adjusted 1995 - March 732.3 88.7 155.3 310.6 177.7 April 747.4 90.8 155.8 319.2 181.6 May 764.1 91.6 156.2 327.4 188.9 June 775.7 94.7 162.0 327.2 191.7 July 787.7 92.0 162.7 339.1 193.9 August 808.1 94.8 171.8 341.7 199.9 September 813.4 94.4 172.8 343.1 203.0 October 811.1 93.6 176.7 338.2 202.6 November 800.5 92.5 176.3 337.5 194.2 December 775.9 86.3 172.0 331.4 186.3 1996 - January(r) 763.7 82.9 165.5 328.9 186.3 February(r) 768.8 79.5 164.8 334.0 190.4 MARCH(p) 779.8 82.5 169.0 337.2 191.2 AVG. RSE (%) 1 4 2 2 3 Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. AVG. RSE (%): Avg. RSE for the latest 6-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 C22, Housing Completions. The C22 report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual Subscription: $11.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Erica Filipek, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4703.