U.S. housing starts rose 6.5% in September to an eight-year high of 1.206 million units (seasonally adjusted annual rate). It was the first month total starts surpassed 1.2 million since October 2007.
The increase was all in the multifamily sector, rising 18.3% to 466,000. Single-family starts were virtually unchanged from August at 740,000.
Single-family starts averaged 746,000 for the third quarter, up 5.7% from the second quarter and more than 14% over 2014’s third quarter. Multifamily starts averaged 418,000 for the third quarter, down 7.3% from the second quarter, but more than 12% above the third quarter of 2014.
On a year-to-date basis, both increased: single-family starts are up 11% from the same period in 2014 and multifamily starts are up 13.8%.
The National Association of Home Builders press release on the monthly housing numbers says, “These averages provide a clearer picture of the steady increase in housing construction that we have been experiencing for several years.”
Permits were down 5% but again the change was due entirely to the multifamily sector. Single-family permits were virtually unchanged at 697,000 while multifamily permits fell 12.1% to an annualized rate of 406,000.
Multifamily permits accelerated in June as builders drew permits to beat new regulatory deadlines and builders are working off that inventory. On a year-to-date basis, the trends are more informative with single-family increasing 9.4% and multifamily up 18.8%.
The NAHB release again relies on the multi-month trends to illustrate the story, “Single-family production continues to move forward at a modest pace as more current home owners feel comfortable selling their existing home and buying a new one. Younger, newly formed households continue to move out of their parents or roommate living arrangements and rent an apartment driving up the demand for more rental units. NAHB expects this same trend to continue into 2016.”
