by Calculated Risk on 11/19/2024 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,311,000. This is 3.1 percent below the revised September estimate of 1,353,000 and is 4.0 percent below the October 2023 rate of 1,365,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 970,000; this is 6.9 percent below the revised September figure of 1,042,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 326,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000. This is 0.6 percent below the revised September rate of 1,425,000 and is 7.7 percent below the October 2023 rate of 1,534,000. Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 968,000; this is 0.5 percent above the revised September figure of 963,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 393,000 in October.
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 month-over-month in October.   Multi-family starts were down 12.6% year-over-year.

Single-family starts (red) decreased in October and were down 0.5% 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 and recovery in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in October were below expectations, however starts in August and September were revised up, combined.

I'll have more later …