US housing starts and building permits for October 2020

  • US housing starts for October 2020 comes in higher than expectations at 1530K vs. 1460K estimate. The prior month was revised higher to 1459K from 1415K previously reported
  • US building permits for October 2020 come in lower than expectations at 1545K vs. 1567K estimate. That is unchanged vs. the prior month revised data from 1553K to 1545K
  • housing starts rose 4.9% after rising 6.3% the prior month
  • single-family housing starts rose to 1179K. Multifamily starts for unchanged at 351K
  • building permits were unchanged vs. 4.7% gain the prior month
  • completions fell to 1343K vs. 1406K the prior month
  • single-family completions fell to 883K. Multifamily completions fell to 460K.

The data is mixed vs. estimates but still showing a stronger trend in housing

Below is the chart of the housing starts data going back to 2014.

Housing starts