U.S. Housing Starts and Building Permits Decline in August
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Downturn reverses June/July improvement.
- Single & multi-family starts decline.
- Building permits drop to five-year low.
Total housing starts fell 8.5% (-6.0% y/y) in August to 1.307 million units (SAAR) after rising 3.4% in July to 1.429 million, revised from 1.428 million, and increasing 7.8% in June to 1.382 million, revised from 1.358 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Total starts in August were 28.2% below their peak of 1.820 million units reached in April 2022. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 1.37 million August starts.
Single-family starts last month fell 7.0% (-11.7% y/y) to 890,000 after rising 3.5% to 957,000 in July, revised from 939,000, and falling 2.5% in June to 925,000, revised from 913,000. The latest was the lowest level since July 2024. Multi-family starts declined 11.7% (+8.9% y/y) in August to 417,000 following a 3.3% July increase to 472,000, revised from 489,000, and strengthening 37.2% in June to 457,000 revised from 445,000.
Housing starts in the Midwest declined 10.9% (+5.3% y/y) in August to 220,000 after rising 29.3% in July. Adding to this weakness, starts in the South fell 21.0% (-13.0% y/y) to 667,000, reversing a 19.4% July gain. Offsetting these declines, starts in the West increased 30.4% (6.5% y/y) to 313,000 and fully reversed the 22.8% July decline. Housing starts in the Northeast rose 9.2% (-11.6% y/y) to 107,000 after plunging 43.4% in July.
Building permits declined 3.7% (-11.1% y/y) last month to 1.312 million, a more than five-year low, after falling 2.2% in July to 1.362 million, revised from 1.354 million and a 0.1% June dip. It was the fifth consecutive monthly decline. Single-family permits fell 2.2% (-11.5% y/y) to 856,000 after rising 1.0% in July. Multi-family permits fell 6.4% (-10.4% y/y) to 456,000 after weakening 7.6% in July. Building permits in the Northeast fell 3.2% (-14.8% y/y) last month, and they weakened 9.5% (-4.3% y/y) in the Midwest. In the South, building permits declined 6.9% (-15.0% y/y) but in the West, building permits increased 9.5% (-3.8% y/y).
The housing starts and building permits figures can be found in Haver’s USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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