The U.S. Census Bureau released its Monthly New Residential Construction report for October 2024 on Nov. 19, showing a notable decrease in housing starts that was driven by declines in the South amid Hurricanes Francine and Helene in September and Milton in October.

The Bureau reported that total October U.S. housing starts fell sharply in the Northeast and South, with the Northeast down 32.9% month-to-month and 8.8%, respectively.

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of $1.41 million, down 7.7% year-over-year from the October 2023 rate of $1.53 million and 0.6% below the revised rate of 1.42 in September. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 968,000, up 0.5% from the revised September figure of 963,000.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.31 million, down 4.0% year-over-year and down 3.1% from the revised September estimate of 1.35 million. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 0.97 million, 6.9% below the revised September figure of 1.04 million.

U.S. Housing Starts – Month-to-Month % Changesource: tradingeconomics.com

Housing Completions

In October, privately-owned housing completions were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.61 million, 4.4% below the September estimate of 1.68 million, but 16.8% above the October 2023 rate of 1.38 million. While single-family housing completions were at a rate of 0.986 million, 1.4% below the revised September rate of 1.0 million.