The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for May 2018.

Building Permits: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,301,000. This is 4.6 percent (±1.4 percent) below the revised April rate of 1,364,000, but is 8.0 percent (±1.3 percent) above the May 2017 rate of 1,205,000. Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 884,000; this is 2.2 percent (±1.0 percent) below the revised April figure of 863,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 421,000 in May.

Housing Starts: Privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,350,000. This is 5.0 percent (±10.2 percent)* above the revised April estimate of 1,286,000, and is 20.3 percent (±14.4 percent) above the May 2017 rate of 1,122,000. Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 936,000; this is 3.9 percent (±10.6 percent)* above the revised April figure of 901,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 404,000.

Housing Completions: Privately owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,291,000. This is 1.9 percent (±13.7 percent)* above the revised April estimate of 1,267,000 and is 10.4 percent (±12.1 percent)* above the May 2017 rate of 1,169,000. Single-family housing completions in May were at a rate of 890,000; this is 11.0 percent (±12.7 percent)* above the revised April rate of 802,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 389,000.

The June report is scheduled for release on July 18, 2018.

* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. In such cases, there is insufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

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