US Housing Starts, Building Permits, and Completions Decline in September

On Friday, the US Census Bureau reported that privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,354,000. This is 0.5% below the revised August estimate of 1,361,000 and 0.7% below the September 2023 rate of 1,363,000. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 1,027,000; this is 2.7% above the revised August figure of 1,000,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 317,000.

Building permits are the forward-looking portion of the report, and in September privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,428,000. This is 2.9% below the revised August rate of 1,470,000 and 5.7% below the September 2023 rate of 1,515,000. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 970,000; this is 0.3% above the revised August figure of 967,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 398,000.

Privately‐owned housing completions in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,680,000. This is 5.7% below the revised August estimate of 1,781,000 but 14.6% above the September 2023 rate of 1,466,000. Single-family housing completions were at a rate of 1,000,000; this is 2.7% below the revised August rate of 1,028,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 671,000.