New housing starts bounced back to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.72 million units in August, according to stats released by the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The August pace was 3.9% above the revised July estimate of 1.55 million units and was 17.4% above the 1.38 million rate in August 2020. Single-family housing starts were at a 1.07 million rate (-2.8% month over month), while multifamily starts were 530,000 last month.
“New home starts recovered in August, following a brief period of decline in July due to supply chain issues,” said Kelly Mangold, principal at RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. “The backlog of homes authorized but not started has grown to record levels over the late spring and summer, and as builders are able to secure materials and labor it is not surprising to see starts begin to pick back up. This backlog is a promising metric, and while some of the pipeline of units may be canceled, it is likely that a good share of the backlog will make it to market due to robust housing demand.”