Housing Completions
Housing Starts
Privately-owned housing starts in October 2018 were at the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,228,000. This represents an increase of 1.5% above the revised September 2018 estimate of 1,210,000, which is 2.9% below the October 2017 rate of 1,265,000. Single-family housing starts in October 2018 came in at 865,000; this represents a 1.8% drop from the revised September figure of 881,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 343,000.
Building Permits
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October 2018 were at the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,263,000. This is a .6% drop from the October 2017 rate of 1,343,000. Single-family authorizations in October 2018 were at a rate of 849,000: this is a .6% drop from the revised September figure of 854,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at the rate of 376,000 for October 2018.
According to an recent article in Forbes, “Sure enough, in September, a wave of 465,000 new listings came on the scene throughout the nation’s 45 largest metros, an 8% increase that marked the largest annual inventory growth spurt since 2013. At the same time residential construction data shows builders are adding a bit more inventory to the mix, with housing starts up 3.7% year over year.”