Housing Starts Surge, Building Permits Fall in New Residential Construction

Volatile New Residential Construction Report Gets Off to Big Start

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its new residential construction report on Wednesday. Housing Starts and building permits can be volatile, and the month of August was no different.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,282,000. That’s 9.2% (±11.4%)* higher than the revised July estimate of 1,174,000 and 9.4% (±9.4%) higher than the August 2017 rate of 1,172,000.

Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 876,000. That is 1.9% (±9.7%)* higher than the revised July figure of 860,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 392,000.

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,229,000. This is 5.7% (±1.6%) below the revised July rate of 1,303,000 and 5.5% (±1.6%) below the August 2017 rate of 1,300,000.

Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 820,000, or 6.1% (±1.7%) below the revised 873,000 in July. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370,000 in August.

Housing Completions

Privately-owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,213,000. This is 2.5% (±9.7%) higher than the revised estimate of 1,183,000 for July and 11.2% (±11.4%) higher than the August 2017 rate of 1,091,000.

Single-family housing completions in August were at a rate of 923,000. That is 11.6% (±12.1%) above the revised July rate of 827,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 285,000.