While the numbers dipped modestly in January, they remain significantly higher than last year. Building permits are 9.2 percent higher than they were in December and 17.9 percent higher year-over-year.
Housing starts are 21.4 percent higher than they were in January 2019 while housing completions are 1.5 percent higher year-over-year.
“Housing starts were much higher compared to a year earlier, which is a sign that housing shortages could ease in some markets when those homes are completed,” Holden Lewis, Home and Mortgage Expert at NerdWallet said in a prepared statement. “Note that I’m not saying housing shortages will end — just that they might be less bad.”