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Home Starts Recede in August From 17-Year Peak

NAHB President Kent Conine said the report indicated that, “there’s plenty of momentum for housing heading toward the end of the year.”

Building permits surged 4.8% in August to a rate of 1.89 million units, its highest level of the year.

Based on starts activity this summer, NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders predicted that housing in this year’s third quarter would once again contribute strongly to growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

Single-family housing starts declined 4.0% in August to an annual rate of 1.48 million units and multifamily production dropped 3.1% to a 344,000-unit pace.

Starts increased 1% in the Midwest, but declined 23.3% in the Northeast, 2.7% in the South and 1.9% in the West.

NAHB has raised its forecast for housing starts this year to 1.76 million units, which would up about 3% from last year’s healthy level of production, Seiders said.

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