ABSTRACT

Provides current and historical information on housing market in 

the United States. Information includes trends for housing permits 

and starts, housing completions for single and multifamily units, 

and sales and construction. Th is report will be updated annually.

THE AUTHOR

DELTON ALDERMAN is a research forest products technologist 

with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station in 

Princeton, WV. To contact, call 304-431-2734, or email 

dalderman@fs.fed.us

United States Housing, 2012

Delton Alderman

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest 

Service

Research Note

NRS-195

Northern 

Research Station December 2013
2

UNITED STATES HOUSING, 2012

Th e Great Recession was the largest peace-time economic 

downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 

December 2007 a global economic decline was noted and 

the Great Recession accelerated in September 2008. For 

the U.S. housing market, the Great Recession resulted in 

housing permits1

, housing starts and completions, and new 

and existing home sales being the lowest recorded since 

tracking of data began in 1963.

Th e year 2005 is now considered the peak of the modern 

housing boom, with 2.155 million building permits issued 

(seasonally adjusted annual rate [SAAR]), the most since 

1972 (Table 1, Figure 1). But by 2009, housing permits 

had decreased to 583,000 (SAAR)—a 73 percent decrease.

Housing Permits

Permits can be used as forward-looking indicators and 

thus are valued data as they may provide an estimate for 

the future housing construction market. Th e U.S. housing 

market began improving in 2012, the result of the world 

and U.S. economies incrementally recovering from the 

most severe fi nancial shock of the deepest economic 

downturn since World War II (Alderman and Shelburne 

2012). Th e seasonally adjusted annual rate in January 2012 

was 684,000 permits but by December of 2012 the SAAR 

of estimated permits had increased to 909,000.

Table 1.—Housing permits, starts, and completions, 

by year and by month (2012)a,b

Permits Starts Completions

1999 1,663.5 1,641 1,604.9

2000 1,592.3 1,569 1,573.7

2001 1,636.7 1,603 1,570.8

2002 1,747.7 1,705 1,648.4

2003 1,889.2 1,848 1,678.7

2004 2,070.1 1,956 1,841.9

2005 2,155.3 2,068 1,931.4

2006 1,838.9 1,801 1,979.4

2007 1,398.4 1,355 1,502.8

2008 905.4 905 1,119.7

2009 583.0 554 794.4

2010 605.0 529 651.7

2011 610.7 607 585.2

2012c

Jan 684 720 542.0 

Feb 707 718 572.0 

Mar 769 706 587.0 

Apr 723 747 663.0

May 784 706 605.0 

Jun 760 754 628.0

Jul 811 728 673.0 

Aug 801 750 682.0 

Sep 890 843 659.0 

Oct 868 889 739.0 

Nov 900 851 675.0 

Dec 909 954 675.0 

a In thousands, annual and monthly data

b Data are for conventional housing and do not include mobile 

home shipments.

c Seasonally adjusted annual rate

Data source: Census Bureau 2013a.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Total Permits Total Starts Total Completions

Figure 1.—Housing permits, starts, 

and completions, 1968-2012, in 

thousands. Data source: 

Census Bureau 2013a.

1 See glossary for defi nition of terms.
3

Housing Starts

Housing starts, a slightly diff erent indicator were 2.068 

million in 2005, the second highest since 1972. In 2009 

housing starts declined to 554,000. For 2012, the year 

began with 720,000 (SAAR) and rose to 954,000 by 

December (Table 1).

Housing Completions

Th ere were 1.979 million housing completions in 2006, 

the most since 1973. In 2011, 582,500 completions were 

recorded. In January 2012 a seasonally adjusted 542,000 

completions were noted, as compared to 675,000 in 

December (Table 1, Figure 1).

Single-family Housing

Single-family housing units use more softwood, hardwood, 

and wood composite products than any other type of 

building structure (Wood Products Council 2006). Th us, 

single-family housing data is an important metric for the 

forest products industry and many other industries.

In January 2012, 452,000 (SAAR) single-family permits 

were issued and in December 573,000 were recorded. For 

comparison, 1.378 million were issued in 2006.

In December 2012, 617,000 single-family starts were 

recorded, a 20.7 percent increase from January’s 511,000 

(SAAR). Single-family completions improved to 524,000 

in December, nearly a 33 percent increase from January’s 

394,000 reported completions. In 2006, there were 1.654 

million single-family completions 

recorded (Table 2, Figure 2).

Table 2.—Single-family (SF) housing permits, starts, 

and completions by year and by month (2012)a

SF Permits SF Starts SF Completions

1999 1,246.7 1,302 1,270.4

2000 1,198.1 1,231 1,241.8

2001 1,235.6 1,273 1,255.9

2002 1,332.6 1,359 1,325.1

2003 1,460.9 1,499 1,386.3

2004 1,613.4 1,611 1,531.5

2005 1,682.0 1,716 1,635.9

2006 1,378.2 1,465 1,654.5

2007 979.9 1,046 1,218.4

2008 575.6 622 818.8

2009 441.1 445 520.1

2010 447.0 471 496.3

2011 413.6 431 446.3

2012b

Jan 452 511 394

Feb 478 470 432

Mar 466 481 440

Apr 475 504 490

May 490 513 469

Jun 491 531 475

Jul 511 506 466

Aug 511 538 492

Sep 550 590 514

Oct 566 589 531

Nov 568 570 516

Dec 573 617 524

a In thousands, annual and monthly data

b Seasonally adjusted annual rate

Data source: Census Bureau 2013a.

Figure 2.—Single-family housing 

permits, starts, and completions, 

1968-2012, in thousands. 

Data source: Census Bureau 2013a.

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

SF Permits SF Starts SF Completions
4

Multifamily Housing

Multifamily housing has been a key component of the 

housing market for the past few years, though the overall 

numbers of units built is considerably less compared to 40 

years ago. In January 2012, 232,000 (SAAR) multifamily 

housing permits were issued and in December 336,000 

were recorded. Th e peak number of permits issued for 

multifamily was in 1972 —1.037 million permits.

In December 2012, a seasonally adjusted 365,000 

multifamily housing starts were recorded, a considerable 

increase from January’s 209,000. Multifamily completions 

improved slightly to 151,000 (SAAR) in December 

from January’s 148,000 (SAAR) reported completions. 

For comparison, in 2006, there were 325,000 (SAAR) 

multi-family completions recorded (Table 3, Figure 3). It 

should be noted that all segments of multifamily data are 

considered volatile on a month-to-month or quarterly basis.

Home Sales

New and existing house sales are important to the forest 

products industry. If houses are not being sold, demand for 

forest products typically decreases. For instance, new homes 

utilize softwoods, wood composites in the framing structure 

and subfl oor, and hardwoods are used for fl ooring, 

cabinets, and mouldings. New home sales in 2012 were the 

lowest since this data collection began in 1963. Th e sale of 

new houses peaked in 2005 when 1.283 million units were 

Table 3.—Multifamily (MF) housing permits, starts, 

and completions by year and by month (2012)a

MF Permits MF Starts MF Completions

1999 416.9 339 334.5

2000 394.2 338 334.5

2001 401.1 329 332

2002 415.1 346 315

2003 428.3 349 323

2004 456.6 345 292

2005 473.3 353 310

2006 460.7 336 296

2007 418.5 309 325

2008 329.8 284 284

2009 141.8 109 301

2010 157.3 116 274

2011 197.1 178 155

2012b

Jan 232 193 148

Feb 229 240 140

Mar 303 215 147

Apr 248 234 173

May 294 178 136

Jun 269 215 148

Jul 300 211 207

Aug 290 205 190

Sep 340 245 145

Oct 302 281 208

Nov 332 268 159

Dec 325 333 151

a In thousands, annual and monthly data

b Seasonally adjusted annual rate

Data source: Census Bureau 2013a.

Figure 3.—Multifamily housing 

permits, starts, and completions, 

1968-2012, in thousands. 

Data source: Census Bureau 2013a.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

MF Permits MF Starts MF Completions
5

recorded. In 2012, the monthly average was 365,917 (SAAR) 

new houses sold. In January 2012, 339,000 (SAAR) new house 

sales were reported and in December 378,000 (SAAR) were 

sold—an 11.5 percent increase for 2012 (Table 4, Figure 4).

Existing home sales provide insight into the current housing 

market and are important for the home improvement industry 

and by extension, the forest products industry. For the past 

several years, investors have purchased nearly 30 percent of 

existing homes (National Association of Realtors® 2013) 

primarily to become rental units. In 2005, 7.076 million 

existing houses were sold; at the 2008 nadir of the housing crisis, 

sales totaled 4.110 million. In January 2012, existing home sales 

were 4.630 million (SAAR) and in December 4.940 million 

(SAAR) were sold (Table 4, Figure 4).

Housing is a very important component to the U.S. gross 

domestic product (GDP) and overall economy. Housing 

contributions to GDP are valued in two discrete means: 1) 

private residential investment, and 2) consumption spending 

of housing services (National Association of Homebuilders 

2013). Residential investment includes construction of 

new single-family and multifamily structures, residential 

remodeling, manufactured home production, and brokers’ fees. 

Consumption spending on housing services includes gross rents 

(which include utilities) paid by renters and owners’ imputed 

rent. Historically, residential investment has averaged roughly 5 

percent of GDP, while housing services have averaged between 

12 and 13 percent, for a combined 17 to 18 percent of GDP. 

Th ese proportions tend to vary during business cycles (Figure 5).

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

New House Sales Existing House Sales

Figure 4.—New and existing house 

sales, 1968-2012, in thousands. 

Data sources: Census Bureau 

2013b, HUD 2013, National 

Association of Realtors® 2013.

Table 4.—New and existing house salesa

New 

House Sales

Existing 

House Sales

1999 881 5,184

2000 877 5,173

2001 908 5,333

2002 973 5,631

2003 1,086 6,176

2004 1,203 6,778

2005 1,283 7,076

2006 1,051 6,478

2007 776 5,040

2008 485 4,110

2009 375 4,340

2010 323 4,190

2011 302 4,260

2012b

Jan 339 4,630

Feb 366 4,600

Mar 352 4,470

Apr 358 4,620

May 369 4,620

Jun 360 4,370

Jul 366 4,470

Aug 367 4,830

Sep 379 4,690

Oct 364 4,760

Nov 393, 4,990

Dec 378 4,900

a In thousands, annual and monthly data 

b Seasonally adjusted annual rate

Data sources: Census Bureau 2013b; National 

Association of Realtors® 2013
6

Residential Construction Spending

Private residential construction spending also is an 

important indicator for the overall health of the housing 

market. Collection of private residential construction data 

began in 1993; in 2005 $433.5 million was spent for new 

single-family housing and $52.8 million was spent for 

multifamily housing. For improvements or remodeling, 

$144.9 million was spent in 2006 and spending totaled 

$124.7 million in 2012 (Table 5, Figure 6). It should be 

noted that the Census Bureau does not report remodeling 

expenditures directly; these expenditures are reported as 

improvement spending.

In January 2012, private residential spending was 

projected at $247.8 million (SAAR) and was revised 

upward to $297.1 million December. By segment:

• Spending on new single-family homes totaled 

$115.6 million (SAAR) in January and $146.4 

million (SAAR) in December

• Spending on multifamily housing was $17.1 

million (SAAR) in January and $26.0 million 

(SAAR) in December 2012.

• Spending on improvements totaled $115.1 

million (SAAR) in January and $124.7 million 

(SAAR) in December 2012 (Table 5, Figure 6).

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2011 2012

Residential Fixed Investment Housing Services Residential Fixed Investment + Housing Services

Figure 5.—Contribution of 

housing markets to gross 

domestic product, in percent 

of total GDP, 1976-2012. 

Data sources: Bureau of 

Economic Analysis 2013, 

National Association of 

Homebuilders 2013.

a In thousands of dollars, annual and monthly data 

b Seasonally adjusted annual rate

Data source: Census Bureau 2013c.

Table 5.—Construction spending for singlefamily (SF), multifamily (MF), and improvementsa.

SF

Spending

MF

Spending

Improvement

Spending

1999 223,837 27,434 75,031

2000 236,788 28,259 81,091

2001 249,086 30,305 85,023

2002 265,889 32,952 97,855

2003 310,575 35,116 100,344

2004 377,557 39,944 115,399

2005 433,510 47,297 131,092

2006 415,997 52,803 144,931

2007 305,184 48,959 139,103

2008 185,776 44,338 120,144

2009 105,336 28,538 112,038

2010 112,569 14,668 111,564

2011 106,946 14,669 116,941

2012b

Jan 115,599 17,108 115,147

Feb 117,837 17,784 117,019

Mar 117,712 18,028 113,712

Apr 119,578 19,631 114,936

May 121,805 20,642 120,189

Jun 125,556 21,661 124,082

Jul 127,667 21,906 125,151

Aug 131,612 22,355 128,463

Sep 136,378 22,637 131,479

Oct 141,543 23,851 134,452

Nov 144,457 24,365 130,664

Dec 146,430 25,010 124,696
7

Th e U.S. housing market began a long awaited 

improving process in 2012 and many analysts are 

projected a modest improvement in 2013. Th ere still 

remain potential headwinds for a return to a robust 

housing industry. Principal among them are a sluggish 

economy (Krugman 2013), stricter lending standards, 

elevated levels of shadow inventory, and foreclosures 

that may enter the market in states that use the 

judicial process for foreclosures. If these headwinds 

can be overcome, then possibly we can expect more 

improvement in the U.S. housing market.

LITERATURE CITED

Alderman, D.; Shelburne, R. 2012. Th e economic 

situation and construction-sector development 

in the UNECE region, 2011-2012. In: Forest 

products annual market review 2011-2012. Geneva 

Timber and Forest Study Paper 30. New York, NY 

and Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations: 11-23. 

Available at: http://www.unece.org/fi leadmin/DAM/

timber/publications/FPAMR_2012.pdf. (Accessed 

Sept. 4, 2013).

Bureau of Economic Analysis [BEA]. 2013. Gross 

domestic product (GDP). Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic 

Analysis. Available at www.bea.gov/national/index.

htm#gdp (Accessed Sept. 4, 2013).

 -

 100

 200

 300

 400

 500

 600

 700

Private Residental New Single-family New Multi-family Improvements

Figure 6.—Construction spending, in 

thousands of dollars, for single-family, 

multifamily, and improvements, 1968-

2012. Data sources: Census Bureau 

2013c, 2013d.

Census Bureau. 2013a. New residential construction.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Census Bureau. Available at www.census.gov/

construction/nrc (Accessed Nov. 4, 2013).

Census Bureau. 2013b. New residential sales.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Census Bureau. Available at www.census.gov/

construction/nrs (Accessed Nov. 4, 2013).

Census Bureau. 2013c. Value of construction put 

in place. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Census Bureau. Available at www.census.

gov/construction/c30/c30index.html (Accessed Nov. 

4, 2013). 

Census Bureau. 2013d. Historical value put in place.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Census Bureau. Available at www.census.gov/

construction/c30/historical_data.html (Accessed Nov. 

4, 2013).

Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]. 

2013. U.S. housing market conditions. National 

USMHC archive. Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of Housing and Urban Development. Available at 

www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/ushmc/summer10/

hist_data.pdf (Accessed Sept. 4, 2013).
8

Krugman, Paul. 2013. Th e big fail. New York Times. 

January 7, 2013. Sect. A:19. Available at http://www.

nytimes.com/2013/01/07/opinion/krugman-the-bigfail.html?_r=0. (Accessed Sept. 4, 2013).

Mortgage Bankers Association. 2012. Judicial 

versus non-judicial foreclosure. Washington, 

DC: Mortgage Bankers Association. Available 

at: http://www.mbaa.org/fi les/ResourceCenter/

ForeclosureProcess/JudicialVersusNonJudicialForeclosure.pdf. 4 p. (Accessed Sept. 4, 2013).

National Association of Homebuilders. 2013. 

Housing’s contribution to gross domestic 

product. Washington, DC: National Association of 

Homebuilders. Available at: www.nahb.org/generic.

aspx?sectionID=784&genericContentID=66226. 

(Accessed Sept. 4, 2013).

National Association of Realtors®. 2013a. Existinghome sales and prices continue to rise in 

February. Washington DC: National Association 

of Realtors. Available at: http://www.realtor.org/

news-releases/2013/03/existing-home-sales-andprices-continue-to-rise-in-february. (Accessed Sept. 4, 

2013).

National Association of Realtors®. 2013b. Existinghome sales data. Washington, DC: National 

Association of Realtors. Available at http://www.

realtor.org/topics/existing-home-sales/data. (Accessed 

Sept. 4, 2013).

Wood Products Council. 2006. Wood used in new 

residential construction U.S. and Canada, with 

comparison to 1995, 1998, and 2003. Tacoma, WA: 

APA – Th e Engineered Wood Association. 169 p.

GLOSSARY

Housing completions —A house is defi ned as 

completed when all fi nished fl ooring has been installed 

(or carpeting if used in place of fi nished fl ooring). 

If the building is occupied before all construction is 

fi nished, it is classifi ed as completed at the time of 

occupancy. In privately-owned buildings with two or 

more housing units, all of the units in the buildings are 

counted as completed when 50 percent or more of the 

units are occupied or available for occupancy. Housing 

completions are estimated for all areas of the United 

States, regardless of whether permits are required.

Housing permits —Th e approval given by a local 

jurisdiction to proceed on a construction project. Note 

that not all areas of the country require a permit for 

construction.

Housing starts —Start of construction occurs when 

excavation begins for the footings or foundation of a 

building. All housing units in a multifamily building 

are defi ned as being started when this excavation begins. 

Beginning with data for September 1992, estimates of 

housing starts include units in structures being totally 

rebuilt on an existing foundation.

Judicial foreclosure state —A judicial foreclosure is 

a court proceeding that begins when the lender fi les 

a complaint and records a notice in the public land 

records announcing a claim on the property to potential 

buyers, creditors and other interested parties. Twentytwo states use the judicial foreclosure procedure as the 

primary method.

Seasonally adjusted annual rate —Seasonal adjustment 

is the process of estimating and removing seasonal 

eff ects from a time series to better reveal certain nonseasonal features such as underlying trends and business 

cycles. Seasonal adjustment procedures estimate eff ects 

that occur in the same calendar month with similar 

magnitude and direction from year to year. In series 

whose seasonal eff ects come primarily from weather, the 

seasonal factors are estimates of average weather eff ects 

for each month.

Single-family housing—Dwellings that include fully 

detached, semidetached (semi-attached, side-by-side), 

row houses, and townhouses.
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Manuscript received for publication 25 July 2013

CITATION

Alderman, Delton. 2013. United States housing, 2012. Research Note 

NRS-195. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Northern Research Station. 8 p.

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