The Quikrete Industry Dashboard

Housing numbers were in the spotlight this week with the release of housing starts and permits along with existing-home sales. 

On Oct. 18, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported housing starts in September increased 7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.358 million, from the revised August estimate of 1.269 million. 

Single‐family housing starts also demonstrated gains in September, increasing 3.2% to a rate of 963,000 compared to the revised August figure of 933,000. Also, the September rate for units in buildings with five units or more jumped 17.1% to a rate of 383,000 from 327,000 in the prior month.

While total housing permits for the month fell by 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.473 from a revised August rate of 1,541 million, single-family permits saw growth of 1.8% and moved ahead to a rate of 965,000 in comparison to the revised August figure of 948,000.  

On the existing-home sales side, the National Association of Realtors reported a 2% decline. This includes completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops. Year-over-year, sales dropped 15.4% and are down from 4.68 million in September 2022. 

Single-family existing-home sales declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.53 million in September, down 1.9% from 3.6 million in August and 15.8% from the prior year.

At gas stations, the current national average for regular grade gasoline is pumping at $3.56 per gallon as of Oct. 20. This is a drop of about 32 cents on a month-over-month basis.