On Tuesday, September 20th, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for August 2022:
Building Permits
- In August, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,517,000.
- This is 10.0% below the revised July rate of 1,685,000 and 14.4% below the August 2021 rate of 1,772,000.
- Single‐family authorizations in August were at a rate of 899,000; this is 3.5% below the revised July figure of 932,000.
- Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 571,000 in August.
Housing Starts
- Privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,575,000.
- This is 12.2% above the revised July estimate of 1,404,000 but is 0.1% below the August 2021 rate of 1,576,000.
- Single‐family housing starts in August were at a rate of 935,000; this is 3.4% above the revised July figure of 904,000.
- The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 621,000.
Housing Completions
- Privately‐owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,342,000.
- This is 5.4% below the revised July estimate of 1,419,000 but is 3.1% above the August 2021 rate of 1,302,000.
- Single‐family housing completions in August were at a rate of 1,017,000; this is 0.4% above the revised July rate of 1,013,000.
- The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 318,000.
Mortgage Rates Jump
According to data compiled by Bankrate on September 20th:
- 30-year fixed rate: 6.33%, +0.23 vs. a week ago
- 15-year fixed rate: 5.62%, +0.23 vs. a week ago
- 5/1 ARM rate: 4.78%, +0.24 vs. a week ago
- 30-year fixed jumbo fixed rate: 6.31%, +0.21 vs. a week ago
More Data Later This Week
More economic data will be released later this week, including Existing Home Sales on Wednesday and Jobless Claims and Leading Indicators on Thursday.
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