by Calculated Risk on 9/19/2023 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,283,000. This is 11.3 percent below the revised July estimate of 1,447,000 and is 14.8 percent below the August 2022 rate of 1,505,000. Single‐family housing starts in August were at a rate of 941,000; this is 4.3 percent below the revised July figure of 983,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 334,000.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,543,000. This is 6.9 percent above the revised July rate of 1,443,000, but is 2.7 percent below the August 2022 rate of 1,586,000. Single‐family authorizations in August were at a rate of 949,000; this is 2.0 percent above the revised July figure of 930,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 535,000 in August.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000.

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) decreased in August compared to July.   Multi-family starts were down 41.6% year-over-year in August.

Single-family starts (red) decreased in August and were up 2.4% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery - and the recent collapse in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in August were well below expectations, however, starts in June and July were revised up, combined.

I'll have more later …