According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), building permits for August came in at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 579,000, which is 2.7 percent higher than July's 564,000 adjusted rate.
On the whole, housing starts also increased during the month. Privately-owned housing starts were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 598,000 for August. In July, the adjusted rate of housing starts numbered 589,000, which means August saw a 1.5 percent increase.
Though permits and housing starts increased, the portion of those numbers represented by single-family units saw a drop during the month. Building permits for single-family units dropped by 0.2 percent when compared to July. For August, building permits for single-family homes were at a rate of 462,000, whereas they came in at 463,000 for July.
Housing starts for single-family homes in August were at 479,000, which marks a 3 percent decrease when compared to July.
The numbers for housing starts in August could end up meaning better news for construction spending. According to the Census and the U.S. Department of Commerce, construction spending fell by 0.2 percent in July.
