| Indicator | Month | Value | Previous month's value | Year-ago value | Percent change from previous month | Percent change from year-ago month | Notes | ||||||||||
| Building Permits | Dec-09 | 653,000 | (p) | 589,000 | 564,000 | 10.9 | 15.8 | (1) | |||||||||
| Construction Employment | Dec-09 | 5,907 | (p) | 5,960 | 6,841 | -0.9 | -13.7 | (2) | |||||||||
| Construction Equipment Shipments | Nov-09 | 1,324 | (p) | 1,529 | 2,191 | -13.4 | -39.6 | (3) | |||||||||
| Construction Spending | Dec-09 | 902.5 | (p) | 913.2 | 1,002.1 | -1.2 | -9.9 | (4) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Sales | Dec-09 | 5,450,000 | (p) | 6,540,000 | 4,740,000 | -16.7 | 15.0 | (5) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Inventory | Dec-09 | 3,289,000 | (p) | 3,521,000 | 3,700,000 | -6.6 | -11.1 | (6) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Months' Supply | Dec-09 | 7.2 | (p) | 6.5 | 9.4 | 10.8 | -23.4 | (7) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Average Sales Price | Dec-09 | 225,400 | (p) | 211,800 | 217,600 | 6.4 | 3.6 | (8) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Median Sales Price | Dec-09 | 178,300 | (p) | 170,000 | 175,700 | 4.9 | 1.5 | (9) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Sales | Dec-09 | 342,000 | (p) | 370,000 | 374,000 | -7.6 | -8.6 | (10) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: For Sale | Dec-09 | 231,000 | (p) | 235,000 | 350,000 | -1.7 | -34.0 | (11) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Months' Supply | Dec-09 | 8.1 | (p) | 7.6 | 11.2 | 6.6 | -27.7 | (12) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Average Sales Price | Dec-09 | 290,600 | (p) | 270,000 | 263,100 | 7.6 | 10.5 | (13) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Median Sales Price | Dec-09 | 221,300 | (p) | 210,300 | 229,600 | 5.2 | -3.6 | (14) | |||||||||
| Construction Equipment PPI | Dec-09 | 191.3 | (p) | 190.9 | 189.6 | 0.2 | 0.9 | (15) | |||||||||
| Construction Materials and Components PPI | Dec-09 | 202.2 | (p) | 201.4 | 207.9 | 0.4 | -2.7 | (16) | |||||||||
| Lumber PPI | Dec-09 | 157.1 | (p) | 153.1 | 154.9 | 2.6 | 1.4 | (17) | |||||||||
| Housing Starts | Dec-09 | 557,000 | (p) | 580,000 | 556,000 | -4.0 | 0.2 | (18) | |||||||||
| Chart: Monthly Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
| Chart: Annual Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
| US Housing Starts Forecast | |||||||||||||||||
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| (p) = preliminary estimate | |||||||||||||||||
| (1) Total privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (2) Construction employment in thousands, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Department of Labor. | |||||||||||||||||
| (3) Millions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (4) Billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (5) Seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (6) Number of homes available for sales. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (7) Number of months' supply of homes on market. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (8) Average sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (9) Median sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (10) Seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). | |||||||||||||||||
| (11) Houses for sale at end of period, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (12) Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (13) Average sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (14) Median sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (15) Producer price index for construction machinery and equipment, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (16) Producer price index for construction materials & components, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (17) Producer price index for lumber, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Data source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (18) Total (single- and multi-family) privately owned housing starts, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| Monthly Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
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| Annual Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
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| US housing starts forecasts | |||||||||||||||||
| Starts in thousands | |||||||||||||||||
| NAHB* | Fannie Mae | National Association of Realtors | Steele Analytics | Year-to-date housing starts* |
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| 2009 housing starts forecasts | 564 | 587 | 557 | 550 | Dec-09 (p) | 553.8 | |||||||||||
| 2008 housing starts | 900 | 906 | 906 | 906 | Dec-08 | 905.5 | |||||||||||
| 2007 housing starts | 1,342 | 1,355 | 1,355 | 1,355 | % ch. | -38.8% | |||||||||||
| Percent change: 2009/2008 | -37.3% | -35.2% | -38.5% | -39.3% | |||||||||||||
| Percent change: 2008/2007 | -32.9% | -33.2% | -33.2% | -33.2% | |||||||||||||
| Percent change: 2007/2006 | 5.3% | 5.7% | 5.7% | 5.7% | |||||||||||||
| * NAHB's annual data are averages of seasonally adjusted quarterly data and may not match annual figures presented elsewhere. | * Thousands of starts; not seas. adj. | ||||||||||||||||
| (p) = prelim. est. | |||||||||||||||||
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