The pace of residential construction started turned solidly higher last month. The Midwest saw huge gains in permits and completed construction.
In areas where residential building permits are issued for privately owned housing units, there
were 97,900 permits issued during October.
Activity sank from the previous month, when 107,700 permits were issued. Volume also declined from 99,300 housing permits a year previous.
The home construction data was jointly reported Thursday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
During the first-10 months of this year, a total of
890,000 permits were issued.
But the story was a different one on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the annual rate of
permits rising to 1.229 million from 1.225 million in September. The rate was also up from 1.175 million in October 2015.
The month-over-month gain was due to a 3 percent increase in one-unit properties, which had an annual rate of 762,000 last month. The multifamily rate fell 2 percent to 439,000.
In the Midwest, the seasonally adjusted rate of permits was 204,000, climbing from September by 12 percent — the biggest increase of any region. The rate was up 8 percent in the West to 344,000.
A 2 percent decline in the South put October’s rate there at 576,000, while the rate plunged 21 percent in the Northeast to 105,000.
Last month’s activity left a seasonally adjusted
129,000 housing units authorized but not started.
The report indicated that the annual rate of construction started was 1.323 million, soaring 26 percent from September and up 23 percent from a year earlier.
The spike in new construction was primarily driven by multifamily, with the annual rate surging 75 percent from the prior month to 445,000 in October — though one-unit starts climbed 11 percent to a rate of 869,000.
“These robust figures correlate with strong builder optimism in the housing market,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Ed Brady said in a written statement. “A firming job market, a growing economy and rising household formations will keep the housing recovery on track into next year.”
NAHB noted that single-family starts reached their highest level since October 2007.
Last month’s construction starts left a seasonally adjusted 1.049 million housing units under construction as of Oct. 31, 2016.
Home builders completed construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.055 million housing units during the most-recent month. Completed construction rose 6 percent from a month earlier and 7 percent from a year earlier.
The annual rate of completed construction on one-unit properties was 749,000 up 4 percent from September and 17 percent stronger than October 2015. The 300,000 annual rate on multifamily completed construction was 13 percent better than the prior month but 10 percent worse than a year prior.
In the Midwest, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of completed construction was 187,000 last month, up from September by 55 percent — the biggest gain of any region. The rate was up 2 percent in the South to 536,000.
The West experienced a 1 percent decline, putting its annual rate of completed construction at 254,000, while the rate sank by a fifth in the Northeast to 78,000.
Without any seasonal adjustments, construction was completed on 97,100 U.S. units. In the 10 months ended Oct. 31, the total came to
857,400.
