According to data from the Census Bureau and HUD, total housing starts for 2014 broke the 1 million mark for the first time since 2007, pushing total housing construction to 1,005,800 for the year.
The peak was 2,068,000 in 2005 (seems like so long ago now, doesn’t it?). The bottom was 554,000 in 2009.
Total multifamily construction held almost even at a 361,000 annual rate. For the year, multifamily starts were up 16% to 358,000, the highest since 2007.
The outlook for 2015 looks even better with a strengthening labor market, low interest rates (about 3.75% for a 30-year mortgage), improving mortgage availability and growing pent-up demand.