"Builders remain confident about the market and are keeping up with strong demand for single-family homes and condominiums," said Bobby Rayburn, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "However, builders are managing their production schedules carefully and cutting back slightly on the number of new building permits."

Issuance of total building permits decreased 5.5 percent from the upwardly revised July rate to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.952 million units. However, permits are up by 10 percent on a year-to-date basis.

"The housing market recently has been buoyed by a healthy combination of strong demographics, improving employment and income growth, and a downshift in long-term interest rates," said David Seiders, NAHB's chief economist. "Naysayers talking about a housing bubble should look at the fundamentals that are in place and see that the national housing market is extremely sound."

For the month, single-family housing starts increased 0.4 percent to a rate of 1.667 million. This was an 11.6 percent increase over the August 2003 pace. Multifamily housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 333,000 units, 1.5 percent above the July pace, but 2.3 percent below a year earlier.

"Starts are likely to slip a bit in the fourth quarter as interest rates firm up, but it's now clear that single-family home production will hit a new annual record in 2004," Seiders stated.

Construction of new homes and apartments increased across all regions but the West for the month. The West decreased 4.7 percent in August following a surge in new construction the month before. The Northeast increased 6.5 percent, the Midwest increased 4.8 percent, and the South increased 1 percent for the month.

Publication date: 09/20/2004