Residential construction activity took a breather in August. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported this morning that all three measures, housing permits, starts, and completions, were lower than their unexpectedly high July rates. Permits for residential construction were issued during the month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,470,000. This is down 0.9 percent from the revised (from 1,495,000) 1,483,000 units in July. It was also fractionally lower (0.1 percent) than the August 2019 rate of 1,471,000. Analysts had expected a continuation of the heavy pace of construction that kicked in after a disastrous plunge in numbers in March due to pandemic related shutdowns. Permitting was at the low end of estimates from those polled by Econoday
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