FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009 AT 8:30 A.M. EDT

CB09-93Erica Filipek or Stephen CooperManufacturing and Construction Division(301) 763-5160

NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN MAY 2009

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residentialconstruction statistics for May 2009:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 518,000.This is 4.0 percent (±1.7%) above the revised April rate of 498,000, but is 47.0 percent (±2.1%) below the May 2008 estimate of 978,000.Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 408,000; this is 7.9 percent (±1.5%) above the revised April figure of 378,000.Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 92,000 in May.

HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000. This is 17.2 percent (±14.4%) above therevised April estimate of 454,000, but is 45.2 percent (±5.8%) below the May 2008 rate of 971,000.Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 401,000; this is 7.5 percent (±14.2%)* above the revised April figure of 373,000.The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 124,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 811,000. This is 3.3 percent (±20.6%)*below the revised April estimate of 839,000 and is 28.8 percent (±11.1%) below the May 2008 rate of 1,139,000.Single-family housing completions in May were at a rate of 491,000; this is 9.4 percent (±13.8%)* below the revised April figure of 542,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 314,000.

New Residential Construction data for June 2009 will be released on Friday, July 17, 2009, at 8:30 A.M. EDT.Our Internet site is:http://www.census.gov/newresconst

EXPLANATORY NOTES

* 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

http://www.census.gov/newresconst

In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may beirregular. It may take 3 months to establish an underlying trend for building permit authorizations, 4 months for total starts, and 5 months for total completions. Thestatistics in this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance fromresponse, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated relative standard errors of the most recent data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5percent (±3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All rangesgiven for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statisticallysignificant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies applyto the confidence intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates of total building permits, housing startsand housing completions are revised about two percent or less. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found on our web site listedabove.

Table 1. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places

[Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]2 to 4 5 unitsTotal 1 unit units or more Total 1 unit Total 1 unit Total 1 unit Total 1 unit

2008:May978 629 35 314 140 61 144 105 463 327 231 136June1,174 605 36 533 303 56 151 99 478 315 242 135July924 575 35 314 100 58 145 95 483 302 196 120August857 548 34 275 85 60 142 89 444 282 186 117September806 529 38 239 92 56 134 90 410 275 170 108October729 470 33 226 76 49 131 82 364 245 158 94November630 422 21 187 72 47 98 74 306 215 154 86December564 370 20 174 60 42 85 54 302 199 117 752009:January531 342 20 169 58 41 83 49 274 187 116 65February550 381 17 152 71 37 85 69 293 209 101 66March511 360 20 131 56 35 83 58 266 200 106 67April

498 378 18 102 53 37 79 62 260 199 106 80

May

518 408 18 92 56 42 86 72 266 208 110 86

Average RSE (%)

1 1 5 2 4 3 3 4 1 1 2 3

Percent Change: May 2009 from April 2009 4.0%7.9%0.0%-9.8%5.7%13.5%8.9%16.1%2.3%4.5%3.8%7.5%

90% Confidence Interval

± 1.7 ± 1.5 ± 3.7 ± 6.7 ± 7.6 ± 8.6 ± 5.0 ± 5.3 ± 2.0 ± 2.2 ± 4.8 ± 5.3

May 2009 from May 2008-47.0%-35.1%-48.6%-70.7%-60.0%-31.1%-40.3%-31.4%-42.5%-36.4%-52.4%-36.8%

90% Confidence Interval

± 2.1 ± 1.6 ± 7.8 ± 5.8 ± 9.7 ± 11.0 ± 6.2 ± 6.6 ± 1.9 ± 2.1 ± 5.7 ± 6.3

20071,398.4 979.9 59.6 359.0 150.6 83.7 211.7 153.8 692.2 507.5 343.9 234.92008905.4 575.6 34.4 295.4 119.0 58.0 137.7 93.2 451.9 304.3 196.7 120.0RSE (%)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)2008:Year to Date

410.7 273.1 15.1 122.5 46.2 24.3 57.6 41.0 215.4 150.5 91.5 57.32009:Year to Date

214.5 156.9 7.6 50.0 22.9 14.9 31.4 24.3 115.7 86.8 44.5 30.9RSE (%)115(Z)2 3 3 2 1 1 2 2

Year to Date Percent Change

-47.8%-42.5%-49.7%-59.2%-50.4%-38.9%-45.5%-40.7%-46.3%-42.3%-51.4%-46.0%

90% Confidence Interval

± 1.1 ± 1.3 ± 4.8 ± 1.2 ± 2.4 ± 3.0 ± 3.3 ± 3.8 ± 0.7 ± 0.8 ± 2.3 ± 2.8

2008:May92.3 61.9 3.2 27.3 12.9 5.9 14.2 11.1 42.9 31.3 22.2 13.6June110.6 59.4 3.1 48.0 30.1 5.5 14.5 10.0 43.2 30.0 22.9 13.9July85.9 55.7 3.3 26.9 10.0 5.9 14.4 9.9 43.9 28.2 17.5 11.7August76.3 48.0 2.9 25.4 7.4 5.6 13.1 8.1 39.7 24.4 16.0 10.0September70.9 45.9 3.4 21.7 8.4 5.2 13.0 8.6 34.5 22.8 15.0 9.3October63.7 40.4 2.7 20.6 7.0 4.6 12.4 8.1 30.3 20.0 14.0 7.7November41.5 26.2 1.5 13.8 5.0 3.1 7.3 4.9 19.3 13.1 9.9 5.1December41.2 24.6 1.5 15.1 4.7 2.9 5.5 3.2 22.4 13.5 8.6 5.02009:January36.3 21.8 1.4 13.1 3.5 2.4 4.3 2.3 20.4 13.0 8.0 4.1February38.0 25.9 1.2 10.8 4.0 2.0 4.5 3.4 22.1 16.1 7.3 4.5March44.0 32.3 1.8 10.0 4.3 2.9 6.7 4.7 24.0 18.7 8.9 6.0April

46.5 37.3 1.6 7.7 5.0 3.6 7.8 6.5 23.9 19.3 9.8 7.9

May

48.1 39.0 1.6 7.6 5.1 4.0 8.5 7.5 24.4 19.3 10.1 8.2

Average RSE (%)

1 1 5 2 4 3 3 4 1 1 2 3

Preliminary.

Revised. RSE Relative standard error. S Does not meet publication standards because tests for identifiable and stable seasonality do not meet reliability standards.X Not applicable. Z Relative standard error is less than 0.5 percent.

Average RSE for the latest 6-month period.

Reflects revisions not distributed to months.

See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals.

Computed using unrounded data.

Seasonally adjusted annual rateNot seasonally adjusted

MidwestSouthWest

PeriodIn structures with --

NortheastUnited States

Table 2. New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized, but Not Started, at End of Period

[Not seasonally adjusted. Thousands of units. Detail may not add to total because of rounding]2 to 4 5 unitsTotal 1 unit units or more Total 1 unit Total 1 unit Total 1 unit Total 1 unit

2008:May163.7 98.4 5.5 59.9 17.6 8.9 21.3 11.6 81.5 51.6 43.3 26.2June166.2 94.3 5.5 66.4 24.1 8.7 20.9 11.1 75.7 47.3 45.5 27.2July159.0 91.4 4.8 62.9 19.4 8.3 18.8 10.4 76.7 47.3 44.1 25.4August152.5 83.1 4.9 64.4 13.9 7.6 18.6 8.5 78.9 45.1 41.0 21.9September143.6 80.9 5.0 57.6 13.4 7.7 16.8 9.3 73.0 42.7 40.4 21.1October129.4 73.8 5.0 50.7 11.8 6.2 14.9 8.8 65.1 39.9 37.6 18.8November118.3 65.4 4.9 47.9 12.0 6.4 13.5 6.8 56.4 36.1 36.4 16.1December116.6 64.6 4.1 47.8 12.2 6.4 13.4 6.3 56.4 35.5 34.6 16.42009:January118.1 62.2 5.6 50.2 13.4 7.2 14.3 6.2 58.1 33.9 32.4 14.9February112.9 61.5 5.9 45.6 13.7 7.5 13.4 6.9 54.5 33.0 31.4 14.0March

106.4 60.7 4.2 41.5 12.1 6.3 11.4 7.1 51.1 33.3 31.8 14.1April

113.3 66.5 4.3 42.5 13.1 6.9 12.7 8.2 56.0 36.0 31.5 15.4

May

107.0 65.4 4.3 37.3 13.0 7.0 12.7 8.6 53.5 34.8 27.8 15.0

Average RSE (%)

5 7 15 7 13 19 11 12 7 10 11 16

Percent Change:

May 2009 from April 2009-5.6%-1.7%-1.3%-12.1%-0.9%0.9%-0.2%5.0%-4.4%-3.4%-11.8%-2.4%

90% Confidence Interval

± 2.6 ± 3.8 ± 11.9 ± 4.7 ± 5.3 ± 9.3 ± 8.6 ± 13.2 ± 3.4 ± 4.6 ± 5.8 ± 9.1

May 2009 from May 2008-34.6%-33.5%-21.9%-37.6%-26.5%-22.1%-40.5%-26.0%-34.3%-32.6%-35.8%-42.6%

90% Confidence Interval

± 3.9 ± 4.5 ± 20.6 ± 9.5 ± 8.3 ± 9.2 ± 10.6 ± 18.5 ± 6.0 ± 6.0 ± 7.9 ± 9.8

Preliminary.

Revised. RSE Relative Standard Error.

Average RSE for the latest 6-month period.

Computed using unrounded data.

See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervalsNote: These data represent the number of housing units authorized in all months up to and including the last day of the reporting period and not started as of that date without regard to themonths of original permit issuance. Cancelled, abandoned, expired, and revoked permits are excluded.

WestSouth

Period

MidwestNortheastUnited States

In structures with --