Housing Starts & Building Permits Up Sharply in August

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,364,000. This is 12.3% higher than July’s revised estimate and is 6.6% higher than one year ago.  Single‐family housing starts in August were at a rate of 919k, which is 4.4% higher than July.  The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 424k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,419,000. This is 7.7% above July’s revised rate and is 12.0% higher than one year ago. Single‐family authorizations in August were at a rate of 866k, which was 4.5% hogher than July’s revised figure. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 509k in August.

Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.