Housing Starts See Bump in August

(Image courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau; Breakout image courtesy of Tuesday Temptation/pexels.com)

The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an increase in housing starts in August.

Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,356,000, 9.6% above the revised July estimate of 1,237,000 and up 3.9% from the August 2023 rate.

Single-family starts, specifically, were at a rate of 992,000, up 15.8% from July’s revised 857,000.

The August rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 333,000.

Looking at building permits, privately-owned housing units authorized in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,475,000, up 4.9% from July’s revised 1,406,000. However that’s 6.5% below the August 2023 rate.

Single-family authorizations were at 967,000, up 2.8% from July, and authorizations of units in buildings with five or more units were at a rate of 451,000.

Housing completions hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,788,000 in August, a gain of 9.2% from the July revised estimate of 1,637,000 and up 30.2% year-over-year.

However, single-family home completions specifically were at a rate of 1,029,000, down 5.6% from July’s revised 1,090,000. For units in buildings with five or more units, the rate was 740,000.

“Housing starts in August rebounded from July’s dip to the lowest level since May 2020. The monthly increase was driven by a 16% jump in single-family starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 992,000,” noted First American Senior Economist Sam Williamson. “Single-family permits, a leading indicator of future starts, also rebounded, but remain down 6% from their recent 2024 peak. The increase in August follows several months of declines, perhaps pointing to a stabilization in single-family permits.”