by Calculated Risk on 9/18/2014 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Housing Starts decrease to 956 Thousand Annual Rate in August
From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions
Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 956,000. This is 14.4 percent below the revised July estimate of 1,117,000, but is 8.0 percent above the August 2013 rate of 885,000.
Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 643,000; this is 2.4 percent below the revised July figure of 659,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 304,000.
emphasis added
Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 998,000. This is 5.6 percent below the revised July rate of 1,057,000, but is 5.3 percent above the August 2013 estimate of 948,000.
Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 626,000; this is 0.8 percent below the revised July figure of 631,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 343,000 in August.
The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.
Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) decreased sharply in August (Multi-family is volatile month-to-month).
Single-family starts (blue) decreased slightly in August.
The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.
This was well below expectations of 1.04 million starts in August. Note: Starts for July were revised higher, but starts for June were revised lower.
This was a disappointing report - however most of the decline was due to the volatile multi-family sector. I'll have more later ...