The Commerce Department informs MHProNews that housing starts—single-family and multifamily– in August fell 3.0 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1.13 million units, below the 1.17 million unit pace economists had predicted, while building permits rose 3.5 percent to a 1.17 million pace after declining 15.5 percent in July.

July’s housing starts were revised downward to a 1.16 million rate from the previously reported 1.21 million level, according to stltoday. Despite the drop in August, this marks the fifth consecutive month housing starts have been above the one million mark.

In August, starts for single-family homes, which represents the largest share of the market, dropped 3.0 percent to a pace of 739,000, while starts for the multi-family segment also fell 3.0 percent, to an SAAR of 387,000. Groundbreaking for single-family homes in the South rose 9.2 percent to the highest level since 2007.

Single-family building permits rose 2.8 percent in August to their highest level since January 2008, while multi-family building permits rose 4.7 percent. ##

(Photo credit: Universal Forest Products, Inc.)

Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News–MHProNews.