US August housing starts 1.575M vs. 1.445M estimate

• Prior month
• Housing starts 1.575M vs 1.445M estimate.
• Building permits 1.517MM vs. 1.610M estimate.
• Housing starts were revised lower to 1.404M in July from 1.446M previously reported
• housing starts rose by 12.2% above the July revised figure but is 0.1% below the August 2021 rate of 1.576M.
• Building permits fell -10.0% below the July rate and is 14.4% below the August 2021 rate of 1.772M
• single-family housing starts came in at 935K +3.4% vs. July’s 904K number
• single-family building permits came in at 899K which is -3.5% vs. July.
• Housing completions in August came in at 1.342M. This is 5.4% below the revised July estimate of 1.419M

The mortgage rates dipped in the month of August which may have contributed to the rise in housing starts as builders got rid of some of the inventory leading to an increase in the housing starts that had previously been permitted. Building permits however remained on a downward trajectory indicative of builders being apprehensive about adding to the permit inventories.

Rates are now sharply higher (over 6%). It will be interesting to see the impact on housing starts and permits.

/Inflation