Both building permits and housing starts posted year-over-year increases during August, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The bureau said building permits in August 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,300,000, up 5.7 percent compared with the revised July rate, but up 8.3 percent from one year ago
Meanwhile, housing starts in August 2017 were at a SAAR of 1,180,000, down 0.8 percent compared with July 2017, and up 1.4 percent from August 2016.
“The increased pace of permits, a leading indicator of starts, is promising for further increases in starts in the coming year. The pace of single-family housing starts, 851,000 (SAAR), a 1.6 percent rise above the July figure, is particularly important as it represents near-term new supply that the housing market is lacking,” First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming said.
“Despite this month’s improvement, total housing starts are now 70,000 units below the recent peak of almost 1.3 million units in February of this year,” Fleming added. “The lack of home building is a major reason why the market has been strained by a lack of inventory.”