October housing starts disappoint as single-family building slips again...

Residential construction took another step back in October, with the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development announcing that housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52 million units for the month.

That’s 0.7% below September’s revised pace of 1.53 million units, though it’s still up 0.4% year over year. Overall housing starts have now dropped for two straight months, with lagging single-family construction pulling down the total figure.

Single-family housing starts, while still p 16.7% year-to-date, dropped 3.9% month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.04 million units in October, marking four consecutive months of retreating single-unit building. Single-family starts are now at their lowest level since August last year.

Ongoing challenges with construction materials continue to hinder more consistent building, with Reuters noting that construction costs vaulted 12.3% annually in October — a record yearly jump. Due to supply chain constraints, 152,000 single-family units are authorized for construction but have yet to start building, up a whopping 43.4% from last year. By Arnie Aurellano, Website content editor, Scotsman Guide