what counts as a housing start
a housing start denotes groundbreaking or excavation for a home s foundation or footing the monthly data is divided into three housing categories data for single family homes and multi family housing with five or more units is provided on a seasonally adjusted as well as unadjusted basis while that for multi family housing with two to four units is provided only on an unadjusted basis every unit in multi family housing counts as a separate start so the start of construction for an apartment building with 25 units would register as 25 new multi family housing starts the new residential construction report measures starts for privately owned housing including units started by private developers for sale to local public housing authorities upon completion housing unit statistics exclude group quarters such as dormitories and rooming houses 3each unit in an apartment building counts as a separate housing start 