August proved to be a strong month for housing starts in the U.S.
Privately owned housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million in August, up 12.3% from the July revised estimate of 1.26 million, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The August rate was also up 6.6% compared with the August 2018 rate of 1.28 million.
Single‐family housing starts checked in at a rate of 919,000 in August, up 4.4% from the revised July figure of 880,000. For units in buildings with five units or more, the rate came in at 424,000.
Meanwhile, privately owned housing units authorized by building permits came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million in August, up 7.7% from the revised July rate of 1.32 million. In addition, the August 2019 rate was up 12.0% from the August 2018 rate of 1.27 million.
Permits for single‐family units in August came in at a rate of 866,000, up 4.5% from the revised July figure of 829,000, while permits for units in buildings with five units or more came in at a rate of 509,000.
Privately owned housing completions in August checked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million, up 2.4% from the revised July estimate of 1.26 million. August housing completions were also up 5.0% year over year, compared with the August 2018 rate of 1.23 million.
Single‐family housing completions were at a rate of 945,000 in August, up 3.7% from the revised July rate of 911,000. Meanwhile, the August rate for units in buildings with five units or more came in at 338,000.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales ticked up 1.3% in August from the previous month.
The median existing-home price for all housing types reached $278,200 in August, up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis, according to NAR (marking the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year median price increases).