WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that building permits in May were down 6.4% from April to 991,000 seasonally adjusted. That figure is 1.9% below the May 2013 estimate of 1,010,000.
Housing starts in May were also down, by 6.5%, to 1,001,000 seasonally adjusted. However, starts were up 9.4% year-over-year. Housing completions in May were at a SAAR of 897,000. This is 6.8% above the revised April estimate of 840,000 and is 24.8% above the May 2013 rate of 719,000.
