According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new residential construction report, multi-family housing construction beat expectations last month, while singe-family starts continued a downward trend per August numbers.
Multifamily housing construction was up 3.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,615,000, as reported by Inman. That’s a 17.4 percent increase compared to August 2020.
Single-family housing starts, however, were down last month, following a soft July. Per the report, construction dropped 2.8 percent from revised July figures to a rate of 1,076,000.
As a whole, permits for housing units were up nationally at 6 percent, compared to July 2021, and up 13.5 percent from last August.
Inman notes that housing completions for single-family builds were also up 2.8 percent from July’s revised rate to a rate of 971,000. Privately owned housing completions, however, were down 4.5 percent compared to July—though up 9.4 percent from August 2020.