The Commerce Department reported this week that privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000. This is 0.4% below the revised July rate of 1,144,000 and is 2.3% below August 2015. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 737k – this is 3.7% above the revised July figure of 711k. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370,000 in August. Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,142,000. This is 5.8% below July but is 0.9% above the August 2015. Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 722k – this is 6.0% below July’s number. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 403k.
