Housing starts rise 2.3 percent in August

Nationwide housing production rose 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000 units in August, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. This increase was fueled entirely by gains in the single-family sector, where the pace of new construction rose in every region for a combined 5.5 percent gain to 535,000 units.

"Builders across the country have been reporting noticeable improvement in the number of serious buyers who are in the market for a new home, and today's report shows that this is translating to some welcome gains in construction activity," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "While there is still plenty of room for improvement, it's encouraging to see this continuing trend that is spurring much-needed job growth." For every 100 new single-family homes that are built, 300 new jobs are created, he noted.

At 535,000 units, single-family housing production hit its fastest seasonally adjusted annual pace in more than two years this August. Meanwhile, multifamily housing production declined 4.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 215,000 units.

Regionally, combined starts numbers were mixed, with the Midwest and South posting gains of 20.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, and the Northeast and West posting respective declines of 12.6 percent and 4.3 percent. However, single-family starts rose in every region in August.

Issuance of new building permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, edged down one percent to a rate of 803,000 units in August following a surge in the previous month, with single-family permits holding virtually unchanged at 512,000 units and multifamily permits down 3.0 percent to 291,000 units.

Regionally, combined permitting activity rose 7.9 percent in the Midwest and seven-tenths of a percent in the South, but declined 7.7 percent in the Northeast and 6.4 percent in the West in August.