US housing starts hit 12-year high in August
US housing starts hit a 12-year in August, according to figures released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
Housing starts jumped 12.3% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.364 million from July’s revised rate of 1.215m, coming in well above expectations of 1.250m. On the year, housing starts were 6.6% higher.
Single-family housing starts rose 4.4% from the revised July figure to 919,000, while privately-owned housing completions were 2.4% above July’s revised rate at 1.294m and 5% higher than August 2018.
Building permits rose 7.7% from July’s revised rate to 1.419m and were 12% above the August 2018 rate. Single-family permits were up 4.5% from July’s revised figure at 866,000, marking the best level since July last year.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Homebuilders have been nervous, given the uncertainty triggered by the trade war and the accompanying volatility in the stock market, but their confidence has risen in recent months and single-family permits are trending upwards.
"We look for further gains. In the meantime, expect to see modest upward revisions to Q3 GDP tracking models after this report, via the residential investment component."