by Calculated Risk on 11/26/2013 08:30:00 AM
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Housing Permits increase to 1.03 million SAAR in October
Note: The Census Bureau has announced that the housing starts releases for September and October will be delayed until December 18th.
From the Census Bureau: New Residential Construction in October 2013
Building Permits:The graph shows total and single unit permits since 1960.
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,034,000. This is 6.2 percent above the September rate of 974,000 and is 13.9 percent above the October 2012 estimate of 908,000.
Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 620,000; this is 0.8 percent above the September figure of 615,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 387,000 in October.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and that housing starts have been generally increasing after moving sideways for about two years and a half years.
The increase in permits was mostly due to the volatile multi-family sector. This is the highest level for permits since 2008.