Building permits and the inventory of new homes for sale increased last month. But construction was started and completed on fewer homes.
August saw building permits authorized for privately owned housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.170 million.
The pace of permits moved up from 1.130 million the previous month. July’s rate was revised up from
1.119 million originally reported.
In the same month last year, building permits were issued
at an annual rate of 1.040 million.
The statistics were jointly reported Thursday
by the Commerce Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Permits came in at an annual rate of 0.296 million in the West, leaping from July by 9.6 percent — the biggest increase of any region.
A 2.9 percent ascension in the Midwest left the rate at 0.175 million, while the South was up 2.4 percent to 0.590 million — the highest rate of any region.
The Northeast was the only region to suffer a decline — down 4.4 percent to an annual pace of 0.109 million.
U.S. sales totaled 0.098 million last month on an unadjusted basis, falling from 0.102 million in July.
On just single-family units, the U.S. rate of authorizations climbed to 0.699 million from the revised 0.680 million in July.
The most-recent activity left a seasonally adjusted 0.147 million authorized units that had not started construction as of August, the same as the previous month.
The report indicated that construction on new houses was started
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.126 million, less than the 1.161 million pace a month earlier but more than the 0.966 million pace a year earlier. The July 2015 number was originally reported higher at 1.206 million.
As of Aug. 31, 2015, there were a seasonally adjusted 0.920 million homes under construction, escalating from 0.908 million as of the previous month.
Housing starts climbed 7.1 percent from July in the South to a seasonally adjusted 0.602 million. It was the only increase of any region, while the pace was the highest of any region.
In the the West, housing starts slipped 1.1 percent to an annual rate of 0.259 million, while the Midwest was down 9.8 percent to 0.157 million. In the Northeast, the
rate was 0.108 million, a whopping month-over-month decline of 33.7 percent — the worst of any region.
U.S. single-family housing starts decreased to a pace of 0.739 million last month from
0.762 million in July.
Housing completions came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.935 million in August 2015, slowing from the previous month’s upwardly revised 0.996 million rate.
Completed construction activity was up, though, from the same month during 2014, when housing units were completed at an annual pace of 0.905 million.
Builders finished home construction at an annual pace of 0.249 million in the West, increasing from July by
13.2 percent — the strongest gain in the country.
Completed construction dropped 9.3 percent in the South to a rate of 0.461 million, while a 14.5 percent drop in
the Midwest left the pace at 0.147 million, and an 18.8 percent decline left the Northeast rate at 0.078 million.
There were 0.090 million unsold new U.S. homes as of the most-recent period, growing from 0.087 million at the end of July.
On just single-family U.S. properties, the rate of completions dropped to 0.646 million from a revised 0.636 million in July.
