Housing starts increased 1.9% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million.
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Despite the decline in confidence among builders, the number of new housing starts edged up in October. data is shown.
Single-family and multifamily housing starts rose 1.9% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This was 4.2% lower than the rate recorded in October 2022.
The announcement comes a day after data from the National Association of Home Builders showed that builder confidence in the new single-family home market fell 6 points during October, to its lowest level since December 2022. It was announced.
“Builder confidence has declined for four months as rising mortgage rates dampened homebuyer demand and made it more difficult to finance new housing projects,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “It’s been declining continuously.” “However, the pace of new single-family home construction continues to outpace, with new single-family home starts and new single-family home construction permits both increasing slightly from September to October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. ‘It’s at last year’s level. ”
The increase exceeded experts’ expectations.
“October’s increase in housing starts was larger than expected,” Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy wrote after the announcement. He said, “Housing starts and permits are still struggling to match levels seen a year ago, but starts remain above pre-pandemic levels.”
The housing completion rate fell 4.6% from September to a seasonally adjusted 1.41 million units, 4.6% above the October 2022 completion rate.
The number of new homes approved with building permits rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1% from September to 1,487,000, the highest level since May 2022, but 4.4% higher than the level recorded a year earlier. % below.
Multifamily permits and multifamily construction starts increased as well, with permits up 2.2% from September’s three-year low and construction starts up 4.9% month over month. However, fewer apartment complexes were completed, with the number of completed units decreasing by 12.6% from September.
However, an increase in the number of permits and construction starts suggests that further relief for renters may not be far away.
“Nearly a record number of apartment complexes are under construction, and as they come to market, there will be downward pressure on rents,” Odeta Cusi, principal deputy economist at First American, said in a statement.
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