August Housing Starts: Touchdown!

• In their strongest showing since June 2007, housing starts in August rose 12.3% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million. That's 6.6% above August 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Building permits rose 7.7% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million.That's up is 12% from August 2018 and is the strongest reading since May 2007.
• Housing completions in August climbed 2.4% from July to 1.29 million units (SAAR). That's 5% above August 2018.

The promise offered by July's strong housing permits was realized in a nice bounceback to August's housing starts. These new numbers demonstrate that builder confidence — which recently reached an annual high — is translating into action.

Home builders are standing strong in the face of growing economic uncertainties, including the threat of a recession. Their hopefulness is buoyed by the fact that mortgage rates fell again in August, which helps keep would-be home buyers thirsty for new inventory.

New home building has struggled to break out this year, but new construction jobs and now this healthy boost in housing starts indicate that home building is not going to fall off a cliff. It's not flashy, but this sign of resilience is welcome news for a housing market which is still struggling to grasp some momentum.

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