Washington (awp / dpa) – New housing starts in the United States rebounded in August after plunging in July, and building permits are also rising, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday.
Last month, 1.615 million houses and buildings started to be built in the country, at an annualized rate adjusted for seasonal variations, which is 3.9% more than in July and 17.4% more than in August 2020 .
It is also more than expected, since analysts were anticipating only 1.560 million housing starts.
In addition, the drop in housing starts recorded in July was less than initially announced, at -6.2% against -7%, according to the revised figure announced Tuesday.
And the trend is positive, since building permits, which started to rise again in July after three months of decline, have continued this momentum.
1.728 million permits were thus issued on an annualized basis, much more than the 1.600 million expected by analysts. This is 6% more than in July and 13.5% more than in August 2020.
This leading market indicator makes it possible to anticipate the number of projects that will then start.
The construction sector had climbed during the pandemic, driven by historically low interest rates and the exodus of executives to the suburbs. The peak was recorded in March 2021, with 1.725 million housing starts, the highest level since July 2006.
But since then, the very high prices of building materials and the difficulty in finding workers, in particular, had slowed the growth of this sector. In addition, the rise in property prices has cooled many buyers.
And, while the industry “continues to grapple with supply chain issues for building materials and labor,” builder confidence recovered in September, after three months of decline, “thanks to lower lumber prices and strong housing demand, ”according to the National Builders Association (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Bank’s monthly HMI index, which was released Monday.
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