Privately-owned housing starts in January hit a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.85 million, a 0.2 percent increase over the revised December estimate of 1.85 million and an 8 percent increase over the January 2002 rate of 1.71 million.
Single-family housing starts in January 2003 were at a rate of 1.51 million, a 2.1 percent increase above the December figure of 1.41 million. The January estimate for units in buildings with five or more units was 303,000 units. An estimated 1.70 million total housing units were started in 2002, a 6.4 percent increase over the 2001 figure of 1.60 million.
Building permits in January showed decreases. The seasonally adjusted January rate of 1.78 million was 5.6 percent below the revised December rate of 1.89 million, but 5.6 percent above the January 2002 estimate of 1.69 million.