Private housing completions surged 90% y/y in 2014

It hit an eight-year high.

Private housing completions rose 90% y/y to 15,700 units in 2014.

According to a research note from Barclays, although 2014’s completion fell short of the 17,610 units that the Government had forecast last year, it was still the highest level of completion in the last eight years.

The 15,700 units was also slightly higher than the 15,400 units that property agency, Centaline, has expected earlier when it also forecast 2015 and 2016 completions to come in at 12,774 and 20,000 units.

Here's more from Barclays:

Developers also sped up new housing starts in Q4. The 3,400 units that were started in 4Q 2014 was more than double the 1,600 units started in 3Q 2014 and helped bring full year 2014 construction starts to 17,300 units, up 24% y/y.

While developers had sped up their asset turnover and sold 4,551 units in 4Q 2014, as the Government has released land at the same pace, the overall private housing supply remained unchanged at 74,000 units, the highest level since records began in September 2004.

For 4Q 2014, relative to the 1,517 units sold/month, the current 74,000 units private housing supply implies 49 months of inventory – roughly 4.1 years.