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HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS

Privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,397,000. This is 5 (±5) percent below the revised April rate of 1,468,000 and 5 (+6) percent below the May 1996 figure of 1,476,000.

Single-family housing starts in May 1997 were at a rate of 1,088,000; this is 3 (±5) percent below the April figure of 1,116,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 271,000. The May rate for units in buildings with two to four units was 38,000.

During the first 5 months of this year, 573,500 housing units were started compared with 593,000 units for the same period in 1996. This is a decrease of 3 (±2) percent.

New privately owned housing construction was authorized in May in the 19,000 permit-issuing places at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,443,000 units; this is virtually unchanged (±1 percent) from the revised April rate of 1,442,000, but 1 (±1) percent below the May 1996 rate of 1,457,000.

Single-family authorizations in May 1997 were at a rate of 1,056,000; this is virtually unchanged (±1 percent) from the April figure of 1,060,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 320,000. The May rate of permit-authorized units in buildings with two to four units was 67,000.

During the first 5 months of this year, 573,700 housing units were authorized by permits in the 19,000 places compared with 585,300 units for the same period in 1996. This is a decrease of 2 (±1) percent.

In interpreting changes in housing starts and building permits, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take 4 months to establish an underlying trend for total starts and 3 months for building permit authorizations.

The statistics in this report 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 are 90-percent confidence intervals and account for only 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 1997 Current Construction Reports, C20/97-4, 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.

Housing starts and building permits data do not include mobile home units. Mobile home statistics are shown in Table 5, and in the Supplement.

HISTORICAL DATA

Historical data on housing starts and residential permit authorizations are available from Residential Construction Branch, Manufacturing and Construction Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 202336900. Telephone 301-457-4703.

A list of tables and special supplements is shown below:

Table 2. New Privately Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places [Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]

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