Briefing.com: Housing Starts

Updated: 20-Oct-20 09:22 ET

September Housing Starts

Updated: 20-Oct-20 09:22 ET

Highlights

Total housing starts increased 1.9% m/m in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.415 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.430 million).
Total building permits jumped 5.2% m/m to 1.553 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.510 million).

Key Factors

The change in single-unit starts by region: Northeast (+20.7%); Midwest (-16.4%); South (+17.7%); and West (+1.6%).
The change in single-unit permits by region: Northeast (+20.3%); Midwest (+6.6%); South (+6.0%); and West (+9.8%).
Multi-unit starts decreased 16.4% m/m while multi-unit permits were down 0.9% m/m.
The number of units under construction at the end of the period was unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.209 million. That left the Q3 average 1.8% above the second quarter average. That will be a positive input for Q3 GDP forecasts.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that there was robust growth in both single-unit starts (+8.5% m/m) and permits (+7.8% m/m), which reflects underlying strength in the market for single-family homes.