U.S. Census Bureau: Monthly New Residential Construction, December 2024

Notice of methodology change: With the January New Residential Construction release on February 19, 2025, the Building Permits survey will make modifications to the methodology for imputation. The current process calculates imputation factors by region and the new process will calculate factors at a mix of division and large individual states. For additional details on this change, see our imputation section of our methodology page.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for December 2024:

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,483,000. This is 0.7 percent below the revised November rate of 1,493,000 and is 3.1 percent below the December 2023 rate of 1,530,000. Single-family authorizations in December were at a rate of 992,000; this is 1.6 percent above the revised November figure of 976,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 437,000 in December.

An estimated 1,471,200 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2024. This is 2.6 percent below the 2023 figure of 1,511,100.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,499,000. This is 15.8 percent (±14.4 percent) above the revised November estimate of 1,294,000, but is 4.4 percent (±11.3 percent)* below the December 2023 rate of 1,568,000. Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 1,050,000; this is 3.3 percent (±10.9 percent)* above the revised November figure of 1,016,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 418,000.

An estimated 1,364,100 housing units were started in 2024. This is 3.9 percent (±2.6 percent) below the 2023 figure of 1,420,000.

Housing Completions

Privately-owned housing completions in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,544,000. This is 4.8 percent (±13.7 percent)* below the revised November estimate of 1,621,000 and is 0.8 percent (±13.0 percent)* below the December 2023 rate of 1,557,000. Single-family housing completions in December were at a rate of 948,000; this is 7.4 percent (±11.8 percent)* below the revised November rate of 1,024,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 570,000.

An estimated 1,627,900 housing units were completed in 2024. This is 12.4 percent (±3.5 percent) above the 2023 figure of 1,448,800.

The January report is scheduled for release on February 19, 2025. View the full schedule in the Economic Briefing Room: <www.census.gov/economic-indicators/>. The full text and tables for this release can be found at <www.census.gov/construction/nrc/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau