Three different construction measures
A November 2017 article discussed a national housing shortage through starts, permits and completions. These measure different stages: beginning construction, permission to build and finishing homes. The article’s mixed seasonal comparisons should not be read as one consistent monthly series.
The account gave a second-quarter annualized starts figure of approximately 1.09 million and described May permits falling 4.9% to a 1.17 million pace. It attributed later permit reporting to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
The September permit and start figures
Reported September permits declined 4.5% from August and 4.3% year over year. The article said single-family permits rose 2.4% month to month and 9.3% year over year, while its condominium and apartment permit measure fell 17.4% month to month and 25.3% year over year.
It also reported overall starts declining 4.7% and single-family starts declining 4.6% from August. Other passages discussed improvement over longer periods. A change from August and a year-over-year change can differ; the account did not document every series well enough to reconstruct one definitive national table.
Completions and regional differences
The report gave a 1.1% monthly and 10.3% annual increase in privately owned housing completions, with single-family completions up 4.6% from August. It separately reported Northeast completions down 41.1% month to month and 14.4% year over year.
These national and regional figures were not Boston inventory counts. The article’s expectation that more permits would eventually relieve shortages was a forecast, not an assurance of additional available homes.
The local development discussion
The account mentioned multifamily proposals in Ashland and Brookline and opposition in areas with substantial single-family housing. Its reference to an unnamed affordable-housing law does not establish a present development right or explain an individual proposal’s legal status. Labor, land and permitting constraints were considered possible supply pressures rather than proved causes of every decline.
Historical account attributed to the original Boston City Properties article. Underlying records and later outcomes have not been freshly verified.