Housing starts declined 4.1% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.63 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The decline is a symptom of continued supply chain problems that are spurring delays, the National Association of Home Builders said.
Housing starts were 0.8% above January 2021 housing starts, however. Regionally, housing starts increased 17.7% in the West and 2.6% in the Northeast. The Midwest and the South had declines of 37.7% and 2.0%, respectively.
"The market needs more housing, but chronic production bottlenecks, including ongoing price increases for lumber and OSB, continue to raise housing costs and harm housing affordability," NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter said in a statement.
Building permits increased 0.7% month-over-month and 0.8% year-over-year. Housing completions declined 5.2% from December to an adjusted rate of 1.24 million, which was down 6.2% compared with January 2021 housing completions.
The full report can be found here.
