Total housing starts fell in September by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million units, according to a housing report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, which records the housing permits, starts and completions for the month.
Housing units authorized by building permits also fell in September to 1.43 million, which was a decrease of 2.9% from the revised August rate of 1.47 million. The September rate was down 5.7% year over year. On the bright side, single-family home authorizations rose to an annualized rate of 970,000, which was 0.3% higher than the revised August rate of 967,000. Building permits for multifamily developments, which include apartment buildings and condos, stood at 398,000.
Single-family housing starts climbed to about 1.03 million in September, up about 2.7% from the revised August figure of 1 million. In the multifamily sector, September starts were at the slowest pace since May, with an annualized rate of 317,000 units.
Housing completions were also down from August, falling 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.68 million units. However, September’s numbers were up a strong 14.6% year over year. The month saw about 1 million single-family homes completed and 671,000 multifamily units delivered.
“While single-family home building increased in September, higher mortgage interest rates in October are likely to place a damper on growth in next month’s data,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “Nonetheless, NAHB is forecasting a gradual, if uneven, decline for mortgage rates in the coming quarters, with corresponding increases for single-family construction. Multifamily construction will remain weak as completions of apartments are elevated.”
Carl Harris, chairman of the NAHB, said that the most effective way to tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis is to increase the housing supply.
“As the election looms, policymakers need to be focused on the supply-side of the market to let builders build,” Harris said.
