Single-Family Housing Starts Increase

By:
Peter King | October 19, 2010

Construction starts on single-family homes perked up in September, but continue to trail their levels of one year ago. 

The Commerce Department reported this morning that construction starts on single-family homes increased 4.4 percent in September, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 452,000 units. That’s up from  August’s rate of 433,000, but represents an 11 percent annual decline from the September 2009 rate of 507,000 units.
 
At the same time, overall housing construction starts are up, owing to strong increases in new construction on multiunit residences such as apartment buildings and condominiums. Construction starts on buildings of five or more units have more than doubled the past 12 months, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 150,000 units, up from 70,000 in September 2009.
 
Overall construction starts of both single- and multifamily units were up only slightly for the month, to an annual rate of 610,000 units, up from 608,000 in August. On an annual basis, all private construction starts were up 4.1 percent over the September 2009 rate of 586,000.
 
At the same time, newly issued building permits declined to an annual rate of 539,000, down 5.6 percent from the August rate of 571,000. Single-family building permits were up 0.5 percent from August to 405,000 units, while multifamily permits were at a rate of 111,000.

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