Housing permits in the United States rose in August 2024, signaling a resurgence in residential construction activity. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,475,000 in August. This marks a 4.9% increase from the revised July figure of 1,406,000 but remains 6.5% below the rate recorded in August 2023, when 1,578,000 units were authorized.
Single-family authorizations in August climbed by 2.8% to 967,000 compared to July's revised figure of 941,000, while permits for buildings with five units or more stood at 451,000.
Housing starts also saw significant improvement. August saw a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,356,000 new housing starts, a 9.6% jump from July's revised estimate of 1,237,000. This figure also reflects a 3.9% increase compared to August 2023, when the rate stood at 1,305,000. Single-family housing starts surged 15.8% in August, reaching 992,000, while buildings with five or more units saw a rate of 333,000 starts.
Additionally, housing completions posted strong gains. August completions reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,788,000, representing a 9.2% rise from July's revised estimate of 1,637,000. This marks a 30.2% increase over August 2023, when 1,373,000 completions were recorded. Despite this overall growth, single-family housing completions dipped by 5.6%, falling to 1,029,000 compared to July's revised figure of 1,090,000. Meanwhile, completions of buildings with five units or more reached 740,000.
