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

Notice of methodology change: With the January New Residential Construction release on February 19, 2025, the Building Permits survey has made modifications to the methodology for imputation. The previous process calculated 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 January 2025:

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,483,000. This is 0.1 percent above the revised December rate of 1,482,000, but is 1.7 percent below the January 2024 rate of 1,508,000. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 996,000; this is virtually unchanged from the revised December figure of 996,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 427,000 in January.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,366,000. This is 9.8 percent (±12.5 percent)* below the revised December estimate of 1,515,000 and is 0.7 percent (±13.0 percent)* below the January 2024 rate of 1,376,000. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 993,000; this is 8.4 percent (±10.1 percent)* below the revised December figure of 1,084,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 355,000.

Housing Completions

Privately-owned housing completions in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,651,000. This is 7.6 percent (±8.4 percent)* above the revised December estimate of 1,534,000 and is 9.8 percent (±14.0 percent)* above the January 2024 rate of 1,504,000. Single-family housing completions in January were at a rate of 982,000; this is 7.1 percent (±8.3 percent)* above the revised December rate of 917,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 652,000.

The February report is scheduled for release on March 18, 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