Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.126 million, 3.0 percent below the revised July estimate of 1.161 million, but 16.6 percent higher than the August 2014 rate.
Housing activity fell in three of the four regions, with starts falling 33.7 percent in the Northeast, 9.8 percent in the Midwest, and 1.1 percent in the West. Starts rose 7.1 percent in the South.
New building permits rose in August to 1.170 million, up 3.5 percent from July’s estimate and 12.5 percent above August 2014’s estimate. Permits issued in the Northeast fell for the third consecutive month, falling to a rate of 109,000.
Housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 935,000, down 6.1 percent below July’s estimate, but up 3.3 percent from a year ago.
Read the Census release.
