In the USA, housing starts in the twelve-month period up to and including December reached the lowest figure since August at 1.382m units. According to the statistics published by the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development on 19 January, housing starts amounted to 1.377m units in July, the lowest figure in 2022. In comparison with the 1.768m units registered in 2021 as a whole, the reduction equates to 21.8%. Housing starts for detached homes fell 25.0% short of the previous year’s figure at 909,000 units. A reduction of 16.3% was registered in apartment blocks to 463,000 units.
Development in numbers of issued planning permits was similar to that of housing starts. Owing to the continuous reduction since the start of the year, the number of approved homes reached its lowest in the twelve months up to and including December at 1.330m units. This equates to a reduction of 29.9% against the 1.896m planning permits issued in 2021 as a whole. The permits for detached homes and homes in houses for two to four families slumped by a third in each case to 730,000 and 45,000, respectively. Permits for homes in apartment blocks were 21.8% down at 555,000 units.
