by Calculated Risk on 10/18/2023 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,358,000. This is 7.0 percent above the revised August estimate of 1,269,000, but is 7.2 percent below the September 2022 rate of 1,463,000. Single‐family housing starts in September were at a rate of 963,000; this is 3.2 percent above the revised August figure of 933,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 383,000.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,473,000. This is 4.4 percent below the revised August rate of 1,541,000 and is 7.2 percent below the September 2022 rate of 1,588,000. Single‐family authorizations in September were at a rate of 965,000; this is 1.8 percent above the revised August figure of 948,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 459,000 in September.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000.

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased in September compared to August.   Multi-family starts were down 31.4% year-over-year in September.

Single-family starts (red) increased in September and were up 8.6% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery - and the recent collapse in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in September were below expectations and starts in July and August were revised down slightly, combined.

I'll have more later …