Housing starts under Barack Obama

How many new homes broke ground, at an annual rate.

Over 2009-01-20 to 2017-01-19, measured in Thousands of Units:

Term average

850.72 Thousands of Units

At the start

521.67 Thousands of Units

At the end

1,194 Thousands of Units

Change

+672.33 Thousands of Units

Low

478 Thousands of Units (2009-04-01)

High

1,313 Thousands of Units (2016-10-01)

Coverage

100% (96 observations)

Reading this series over a presidential term

Very volatile month to month, with wide error margins on any single print, so an average level over a term is steadier than a start-to-end comparison. It responds quickly to mortgage rates, which are set well outside the White House.

Starts are not completions, and they are not affordability: a record year of starts can coincide with rising prices. It counts units, so a 200-unit apartment building and 200 houses look the same.

These are the observed values over the window above, and nothing more. This site does not say which direction is better, and none of this is a claim that Barack Obama caused the number to move.

What Housing starts measures · Barack Obama: the whole record · Chart it · Compare with another president · The source at FRED