Housing starts ended the year with a bang, rising nearly 16% from November’s estimates to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.5 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While far outpacing November’s housing-start rate of 1.29 million, December’s estimates were still down 4.4% from the rate of December 2023. Other construction news wasn’t as positive, with the number of authorized building permits in December falling 0.7% month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.48 million. Housing completions also were down in December, falling 4.8% month over month to an annual rate of 1.54 million.

Single-family housing starts in December were at an annual rate of just over 1 million, up 3.3% from November’s annual estimates. The rate of unit starts in buildings with five units or more was at 418,000. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 992,000, 1.6% above the revised November figure of 976,000. Permits for new units in buildings with five or more units were at a rate of 437,000.

Single-family housing completions in December were at an annual rate of 948,000. That was down 7.4% from November’s rate of 1.02 million. About 570,000 units were completed in buildings with five or more units.

For all of 2024, an estimated 1.63 million housing units were completed, 12.4% above 2023’s total of 1.45 million. About 1.36 million housing units were started, 3.9% below the 2023 figure of 1.42 million. And about 1.47 million housing units were authorized by building permits, 2.6% below 2023.