Single-family starts showed continued growth in August but overall housing production fell 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units due to a double-digit percentage decline in multifamily production, according to a report from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department. The pace of single-family starts in August was the highest production rate since February.
The August reading of 1.42 million starts is the number of housing units builders would begin if they kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts increased 4.1 percent to a 1.02 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. The multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, decreased 22.7 percent to a 395,000 pace.