US building permits increased 1.4 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,345 thousand in January of 2019, the highest level since April of 2018 while markets were expecting a 2.9 percent drop to 1,289 thousand. Permits for the volatile multi-family housing segment rose 7.2 percent to 553 thousand while single-family authorisations declined 2.1 percent to 812 thousand. Across regions, building permits increased in the Northeast (26.4 percent to 139 thousand) and Midwest (33.1 percent to 193 thousand), but fell in the South (-3.5 percent to 664 thousand) and the West (-8.9 percent to 349 thousand). Building Permits in the United States averaged 1355.67 Thousand from 1960 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 2419 Thousand in December of 1972 and a record low of 513 Thousand in March of 2009.
Building Permits in the United States is expected to be 1320.00 Thousand by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Building Permits in the United States to stand at 1240.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Building Permits is projected to trend around 1315.00 Thousand in 2020, according to our econometric models.