Housing Starts Increase in August

In a positive sign for the housing market, housing starts were up month-over-month in August. According to the Calculated Risk blog, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of privately owned housing starts reached 1.36 million, which is a 9.6% increase from July and a 3.9% increase when compared with the same time last year. For single-family homes, housing starts were at 992,000, up 15.8% from July. For buildings with five or more units, the rate was 333,000. With more building permits being taken out, this improvement in housing starts is expected to continue in the coming months as well.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,475,000. This is 4.9 percent above the revised July rate of 1,406,000, but is 6.5 percent below the August 2023 rate of 1,578,000. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 967,000; this is 2.8 percent above the revised July figure of 941,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 451,000 in August.

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