Housing starts ended 2019 with a 16.9% increase in December, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.61 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The rate is a 13-year high for housing starts, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Single-family housing starts increased 11.2%, and multi-family starts increased 29.8% during December.
Regionally, December housing starts increased 8.6% in the South and 3.0% in the Northeast. The West and Midwest had declines of 4.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Overall housing permits in December fell 3.9%.
Total housing starts were 1.29 million in 2019, a 3.2% increase from 2018.
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