US Housing Starts, Building Permits, and Completions Climb in August

On Wednesday, the US Census Bureau reported that privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,356,000. This is 9.6% above the revised July estimate of 1,237,000 and 3.9% above the August 2023 rate of 1,305,000. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 992,000; this is 15.8% above the revised July figure of 857,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 333,000.

Building permits are the forward-looking portion of the report, and in August privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,475,000. This is 4.9% above the revised July rate of 1,406,000 but 6.5% below the August 2023 rate of 1,578,000. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 967,000; this is 2.8% above the revised July figure of 941,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 451,000.

Privately‐owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,788,000. This is 9.2% above the revised July estimate of 1,637,000 and 30.2% above the August 2023 rate of 1,373,000. Single-family housing completions were at a rate of 1,029,000; this is 5.6% below the revised July rate of 1,090,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 740,000.