New Residential Construction in December 2010

The bottom line is that the housing market continues to bounce along the bottom (at least in terms of national totals). Today’s data did have a quirky permits number, but that could have been the result of builders rushing to file permits before the end of the year to avoid some new regulations in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, and California. Therefore, next month expect permits to retrace most of today’s gain.

Building permits in December 2010 were 635,000, up 16.7% from November but down 6.8% from December 2009. Housing starts were 529,000 in December 2010, down 4.3% from the prior month and 8.2% below December 2009.

Press release

The Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) releases 12 monthly and quarterly Principal Federal Economic Indicators collected by its constituent bureaus: the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Businesses rely heavily upon these indicators to make decisions every day. In their public comments, the Secretary and ESA’s Under Secretary and Chief Economist put the indicators into a national and global economic context.

Building permits in August 2010 were 569,000, up 1.8% from July, but down 6.7% from August 2009. Housing starts were 598,000, up 10.5% from the prior month and up 2.2% from the prior year.

Press release

Building permits in May 2010 were 574,000, a decrease of 5.9% from April, but 4.4% above the May 2009 estimate. Housing starts declined 10.0% from the prior month, to 593,000. This was 7.8% above the May 2009 level.

Press release