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Housing starts

Also called starts.

New homes on which construction has begun. Census counts a start when excavation begins for the footings or foundation.

For an apartment building, all of its units count as started when excavation begins for the building. Source 1

The Census Bureau and HUD publish starts monthly in New Residential Construction, usually as a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Source 2 Source 3

Related terms

Where it comes up

Sources

  1. Census Bureau: Survey of Construction definitions (opens in a new tab)
  2. Census Bureau: New residential construction (opens in a new tab)
  3. Census Bureau: New residential construction press release FAQs (opens in a new tab)

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