Housing starts declined 0.7% in October to an adjusted rate of 1.52 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. Year-over-year, housing starts were up 0.4%.
Single family housing starts declined 3.9% in October, while multifamily housing starts increased 7.1%. The report noted 152,000 single family units were authorized but not started, a 43.4% increase compared with last year and a sign of the continued impact of supply chain issues, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
"Single-family permit data has been roughly flat on a seasonally adjusted basis since June due to higher development and construction costs," added NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. "Demand remains solid but housing affordability is likely to decline in 2022 with rising interest rates."
Regionally, housing starts declined 0.8% in the Northeast, 1.0% in the South and 3.3% in the West. Housing starts in the Midwest increased 5.6%.
Building permits increased 4.0% from September and 3.4% year-over-year. Housing completions remained unchanged from September but declined 8.4% compared with October 2020.
The full report can be found here.
