Housing starts in the US increased 1.5 percent from a month earlier to an annualized rate of 1,228 thousand in October of 2018, following an upwardly revised 5.5 percent drop in September and compared with market expectations of a 1.6 percent rise. Starts rebounded in the Midwest and the South but fell in the Northeast and the West. Housing Starts in the United States averaged 1432.44 Thousand units from 1959 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 2494 Thousand units in January of 1972 and a record low of 478 Thousand units in April of 2009.

Housing Starts in the United States is expected to be 1330.00 Thousand units by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Housing Starts in the United States to stand at 1215.69 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Housing Starts is projected to trend around 1280.00 Thousand units in 2020, according to our econometric models.

United States Housing Starts
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Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2018-08-16 12:30 PM Housing Starts 1.168M 1.158M 1.26M 1.2M
2018-09-19 12:30 PM Housing Starts 1.282M 1.174M 1.235M 1.171M
2018-10-17 12:30 PM Housing Starts 1.201M 1.268M 1.22M 1.25M
2018-11-20 01:30 PM Housing Starts 1.228M 1.21M 1.23M 1.22M
2018-12-18 01:30 PM Housing Starts 1.231M
2019-01-18 01:30 PM Housing Starts 1330
2019-01-18 01:30 PM Housing Starts MoM 1330



US Housing Starts Rise Slightly Less than Expected


Housing starts in the US increased 1.5 percent from a month earlier to an annualized rate of 1,228 thousand in October of 2018, following an upwardly revised 5.5 percent drop in September and compared with market expectations of a 1.6 percent rise. The multi-family segment led the rise while construction of single-family houses declined for a second month. Starts rebounded in the South after being hurt by Hurricane Florence in September but fell in the Northeast and the West.

Single-family homebuilding, which accounts for the largest share of the housing market, went down 1.8 percent to a rate of 865 thousand units while starts for the volatile multi-family housing segment jumped 6.2 percent to a rate of 343 thousand. Starts increased in the South (4.7 percent to 596 thousand) and the Midwest (32.9 percent to 210 thousand). Meanwhile, declines were seen in the Northeast (-34.1 percent to 87 thousand) and the West (-4.6 percent to 335 thousand). Starts for September were revised to 1,210 thousand from 1,201 thousand.

Building permits fell 0.6 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,263 thousand in October 2018, while markets were expecting a bigger 0.8 percent drop. Single-family authorizations declined 0.6 percent to 849 thousand and multi-family permits went down 0.5 percent to 414 thousand. Across regions, permits fell in the South (-2.4 percent to 648 thousand) and West (-7.9 percent to 313 thousand), but went up in the Midwest (9.4 percent to 187 thousand) and Northeast (21.1 percent to 115 thousand). Permits for September were revised to 1,263 thousand from 1,241 thousand.

Year-on-year, housing starts fell 2.9 percent and building permits went down 6 percent.


US Census Bureau | Joana Taborda | joana.taborda@tradingeconomics.com
11/20/2018 1:55:36 PM


Recent Releases

US Housing Starts Fall More than Expected
Housing starts in the US dropped 5.3 percent from a month earlier to an annualized rate of 1,201 thousand in September of 2018, following a 7.1 percent gain in August and compared with market expectations of a 4.5 percent fall. Starts in the South declined the most since October 2015 mainly due to Hurricane Florence, which hit North and South Carolina in September.
Published on 2018-10-17

US Housing Starts Above Forecasts
Housing starts in the US jumped 9.2 percent from a month earlier to an annualized rate of 1,282 thousand in August of 2018, recovering from a 0.3 percent drop in July and beating market expectations of a 5.8 percent rise. Starts increased in the South, the Midwest and the West and were flat in the Northeast.
Published on 2018-09-19

US Housing Starts Rise Less than Expected
Housing starts in the US rose 0.9 percent from a month earlier to an annualized rate of 1,168 thousand in July 2018, recovering from an upwardly revised 12.9 percent drop in June, but missing market expectations of a 7.4 percent increase to 1,260 thousand.
Published on 2018-08-16

US Housing Starts at 9-Month Low
Housing starts in the US plunged 12.3 percent month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1,173 thousand in June of 2018, following a downwardly revised 4.8 percent rise in May. It is the lowest rate since September of 2017 and the biggest drop since November of 2016. It compares with market expectations of 1,320 thousand rate.
Published on 2018-07-18



United States Housing Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Building Permits 1263.00 1270.00 2419.00 513.00 Thousand [+]
Housing Starts 1228.00 1210.00 2494.00 478.00 Thousand units [+]
New Home Sales 544.00 597.00 1389.00 270.00 Thousand [+]
Pending Home Sales -6.70 -0.90 30.90 -24.30 percent [+]
Existing Home Sales 5220.00 5150.00 7250.00 1370.00 Thousand [+]
Construction Spending -0.10 -0.10 5.90 -4.80 percent [+]
Housing Index 0.20 0.40 1.20 -1.80 percent [+]
Nahb Housing Market Index 60.00 68.00 78.00 8.00 [+]
Mortgage Rate 5.08 5.12 10.56 3.47 percent [+]
Mortgage Applications 2.00 5.50 49.10 -38.80 percent [+]
Case Shiller Home Price Index 213.76 213.80 213.80 100.00 Index Points [+]
Home Ownership Rate 64.40 64.30 69.20 62.90 percent [+]


United States Housing Starts

Housing Starts refer to the number of new residential construction projects that have begun during any particular month. Estimates of housing starts include units in structures being totally rebuilt on an existing foundation. . This page provides the latest reported value for - United States Housing Starts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United States Housing Starts - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on December of 2018.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
1228.00 1210.00 2494.00 478.00 1959 - 2018 Thousand units Monthly
Volume, SA




Country Last Previous
Canada 215.94 Nov/18
France 35500.00 Oct/18
Japan 0.30 Oct/18
Russia 5.90 Oct/18
Spain 1.37 Jun/18
Turkey 5598.00 Sep/18
United Kingdom 41190.00 Jun/18
United States 1228.00 Oct/18


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