The rate of housing starts declined 10.6% from September to October, but the rate of housing completions for single-family homes jumped 10.7%, according to a joint release by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of private-owned housing starts was 529,000 in October, down 10.6% from the revised September estimate of 592,000 and 30.7% below the October 2008 rate of 763,000.
The rate of single-family housing starts was 476,000, down 6.8% below the revised September figure of 511,000. The October rate for buildings with five or more units was 48,000, down 38% from the September rate of 78,000.
The rate of building permits also declined month-over-month. The rate of permits in October was 552,000, down 4% from September’s 575,000 and 24.3% below October 2008 estimate of 729,000. Single-family building permits were at a rate of 451,000, down 0.2% below September’s rate of 452,000.
The rate of housing completions was 740,000 in October, up 1.9% from September’s rate of 726,000 and 29.9% below October’s rate of 1,055,000. The rate of single-family completions was 528,000, up 10.7% from September’s rate of 477,000. The rate of multi-family completions was 200,000 in October, down from 210,000 in September.
Write to Austin Kilgore.
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