Housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,364,000, a 12.3% increase from the revised July estimate of 1,215,000 and 6.6% above the August 2018 rate of 1,279,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Single‐family housing starts in August were at a rate of 919,000, 4.4% above the revised July figure of 880,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 424,000.

Building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,419,000, 7.7 ahead of the revised July rate of 1,317,000 and 12.0% above the August 2018 rate of 1,267,000. Single‐family authorizations in August were at a rate of 866,000, 4.5% above the revised July figure of 829,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 509,000 in August.

Housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,294,000, 2.4% above the revised July estimate of 1,264,000 and 5.0% above the August 2018 rate of 1,232,000. Single‐family housing completions in August were at a rate of 945,000, a gain of 3.7% above the revised July rate of 911,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 338,000.

Joel Kan, AVP of economic and industry forecasting for the Mortgage Bankers Association, parsed the numbers. “Low mortgage rates and the strong job market convinced home builders to ramp up production in August. Housing starts surged to the fastest pace since 2007, as both single-family and multifamily segments saw sizable gains. Even more noteworthy was the fact that single-family starts saw their strongest month since January."

He continued, "The strength in new residential construction is consistent with results from our Builder Application Survey released yesterday, which showed similar growth over the past couple of months. Permits for new single-family construction increased for the fourth straight month, which is positive sign for prospective home buyers and the housing market.”