Public Comments

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August 20, 2026
Thomas J. Smith
U.S. Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Rd
Washington, DC 20233
RE:
Federal Register notice of July 20, 2026, for the Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and
Completions (OMB Number: 0607-0110)
Dear Mr. Smith:
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) strongly supports the continued collection of data by the U.S.
Census Bureau for the Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions, known as the Survey of
Construction (SOC). The data collected through this survey are crucial to key components of BEA’s
economic statistics.
BEA relies on data collected on forms SOC-QI/SF.1, Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions
(Single-family Buildings) and SOC-QI/MF.1, Survey of Housing Starts and Completions (Multiunit
Buildings) to prepare the national income and product accounts. BEA’s use of these data is primarily
indirect, in that the information on housing starts, sales price, lot value, and building characteristics from
this survey is used in the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction to prepare estimates of the value of
residential construction put in place series.
This series is used by BEA to prepare estimates of the residential fixed investment component of gross
domestic product (GDP) and of the output of the construction industry for the annual input-output and
GDP by industry accounts. Sales, sales price, lot value, and building characteristics data from these forms
also are used by the Census Bureau to prepare price indexes for single family structures and price indexes
for multi-family structures that are used by BEA to prepare estimates of the real residential fixed
investment component of GDP and real output of the construction industry. A list of data used indirectly
and directly by BEA is provided in the attachment.
Please keep BEA informed about any modifications to this survey. We are particularly interested in any
modifications proposed during the survey’s approval process that would substantially affect our use of
these data. For additional information, please contact Tiffany Burrell, Source Data Coordinator, on 301278-9618 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Should you need assistance in justifying this survey
to the Office of Management and Budget, please do not hesitate to contact BEA.
Sincerely,

Dennis J. Fixler
Chief Economist
Attachment

ATTACHMENT

Survey statistic:

Used by BEA for:

Single family:
Starts
Completions
Sales
Characteristics
Sales price
Lot value

Fixed investment: single family structures
Fixed investment: single family structures
Brokers' commissions of sale of structures
Price index: single family structures
Fixed investment: single family structures
Fixed investment: single family structures

Multi-family:
Starts
Completions
Characteristics

Fixed investment: multi-family structures
Fixed investment: multi-family structures
Price index: multi-family structures

Page 2 of 2

PUBLIC SUBMISSION

As of: 9/22/26, 2:15 PM
Received: September 18, 2026
Status: Draft
Tracking No. mu7-ptlr-fzj4
Comments Due: September 18, 2026
Submission Type: Web

Docket: USBC-2026-0298
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC)
Comment On: USBC-2026-0298-0001
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC) Federal Register Notice
Document: USBC-2026-0298-DRAFT-0005
Comment on FR Doc # 2026-14512

Submitter Information
Name: Anonymous Anonymous

General Comment
The SOC provides the core data behind Principal Federal Economic Indicators, including
Housing Starts, Housing Completions, and New Residential Sales. This dataset possesses
extraordinary practical utility as Federal Reserve policymakers, HUD officials, and market
analysts rely on SOC metrics to gauge national economic health, inflationary pressures,
and private fixed investment in GDP calculations. Tracking physical characteristics (square
footage, financing type, structure types) ensures federal housing policy remains grounded
in real-time supply dynamics.
The Bureau appropriately adjusted its average interview counts (9.6 for single-family; 8.5
for multifamily) to reflect longer construction and sales cycles observed in 2023–2025
data. Utilizing Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) via trained field
representatives minimizes reporting friction for builders and property owners. At an
estimated 5 minutes per interview, the survey imposes a minimal administrative impact on
field respondents while maintaining a statistically robust sample (~19,353 new buildings
annually). The Census Bureau’s updated burden methodology is transparent, empirically
grounded, and accurate.

The Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions delivers critical public utility at a
highly optimized operational cost. We urge the OMB to promptly approve this clearance
extension for the full three-year period.

PUBLIC SUBMISSION

As of: 9/22/26, 2:14 PM
Received: September 17, 2026
Status: Draft
Tracking No. mu5-7y18-pfy4
Comments Due: September 18, 2026
Submission Type: Web

Docket: USBC-2026-0298
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC)
Comment On: USBC-2026-0298-0001
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC) Federal Register Notice
Document: USBC-2026-0298-DRAFT-0004
Comment on FR Doc # 2026-14512

Submitter Information
Name: Katelyn Marrs
Address:
Camano Island, WA, 98282
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 4258803228

General Comment
Public Comment to Docket USBC-2026-0298
Agency Information Collection Activities; Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions
(OMB Control Number 0607-0110)
The Census Bureau seeks a three-year extension of the Survey of Housing Starts, Sales,
and Completions (Survey of Construction). The survey supplies the monthly economic
indicators Housing Starts, Housing Completions, and New Residential Sales. These series
are used by the Federal Reserve, HUD, private analysts, and the construction industry to
track residential building activity.
The collection is necessary. No alternative private or public source provides comparable
national coverage of starts, completions, and sales with the same frequency and
geographic detail. The practical utility of the data is high and well-established.

The burden estimate appears reasonable on its face. Sampling approximately 19,353
buildings per year and conducting an average of 9.6 interviews for single-family and 8.5 for
multifamily buildings, at five minutes per interview, produces the stated 14,809 annual
hours. The modest increase relative to the prior clearance period is attributed to longer
construction and sales timelines, which keep buildings in sample longer. That explanation
is plausible given recent market conditions. The methodology and assumptions should be
retained unless field experience shows systematic over- or under-counting of interviews.
Quality and clarity can still be improved without increasing burden. Ensure that the CAPI
instruments clearly distinguish between start, completion, and sale dates and capture
physical characteristics consistently across single-family and multifamily forms. Any
ambiguity in definitions (for example, what constitutes a “completion” when finishing work
is phased) should be resolved in the instrument and interviewer training to reduce followup contacts.
Minimizing respondent burden remains important. Field representatives already use
electronic questionnaires; continued refinement of skip patterns and pre-population of
known data from prior interviews will help. Where builders manage multiple projects,
allowing a single point of contact to report across sites, when feasible, would reduce
repeated outreach. Automated or electronic submission options for larger builders who
already track these data internally should be explored as a longer-term efficiency measure,
provided data quality is maintained.
No objection is raised to the extension. The survey should continue. The Bureau should
publish the updated burden analysis and any instrument refinements in the final ICR
package so the public can verify that the modest increase is fully justified by the longer
project durations now observed.

PUBLIC SUBMISSION

As of: 9/22/26, 2:13 PM
Received: September 16, 2026
Status: Draft
Tracking No. mu4-x97q-zerk
Comments Due: September 18, 2026
Submission Type: Web

Docket: USBC-2026-0298
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC)
Comment On: USBC-2026-0298-0001
Survey of Housing Starts, Sales, and Completions (SOC) Federal Register Notice
Document: USBC-2026-0298-DRAFT-0003
Comment on FR Doc # 2026-14512

Submitter Information
Name: Anonymous Anonymous

General Comment
I recently learned that the number of "immigrants and their US-born offspring numbered
approximately 90.9m people in 2023". This has an enormous impact on housing and
housing supply as it constitutes almost a third of all peoples in the US. Large swings in the
population make it difficult for homebuilders to forecast earnings, and for heritage
American first time home buyers to afford homes. Following the price appreciation starting
in 2020, an entire generation of young Americans has been largely priced out of the housing
market at a time when birth rates are already significantly below the replacement rate.
Politics has become a constant flow of miscontextualized information and outright false
information, leading to the polarization of our population. Even official data sources are
becoming weaponized, and the legitimacy of them questioned - for example, it has recently
been highlighted that arrest records often record individuals race as "white" when the
name and photo very clearly indicate the individual is not white.
Additional data on the citizenship, legal & migration status, occupational industry, &
ethnicity would be informative to the general public in shaping their opinion on public
policy.

Furthermore, I recently took the time to review my local cities section 8 housing and school
costs. The burden per taxpaying household for section 8 housing was approximately
$1,500, and each section 8 household received $48,000/year in taxpayer dollars. This is
before the increased burden of additional police calls (over 1,000/year in the housing
project I requested data on) and the school system, where annual cost per child was north
of $20,000. Cities are increasingly requiring developers to include rent-subsidized units
among their market rate units. The true cost of these programs is extremely burdensome
for the average individual to uncover. Furthermore, I discovered that leases were not being
enforced, with no evictions for non-payment of rent or violent/drug convictions. Collecting
and publishing more comprehensive national data on subsidized and low-income housing
would allow for a more informed public, and discussions which would ultimately lead to
more favorable outcomes.