by Calculated Risk on 11/17/2021 08:37:00 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 1,520,000. This is 0.7 percent below the revised September estimate of 1,530,000, but is 0.4 percent above the October 2020 rate of 1,514,000. Single‐family housing starts in October were at a rate of 1,039,000; this is 3.9 percent below the revised September figure of 1,081,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 470,000.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,650,000. This is 4.0 percent above the revised September rate of 1,586,000 and is 3.4 percent above the October 2020 rate of 1,595,000. Single‐family authorizations in October were at a rate of 1,069,000; this is 2.7 percent above the revised September figure of 1,041,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 528,000 in October.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased in October compared to September.   Multi-family starts were up 37% year-over-year in October.

Single-family starts (red) decreased in October, and were down 10.6% 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 (but still not historically high).

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

I'll have more later …