While the seasonally adjusted housing permits and starts continued to drop once again in October in every region, with the exception of a steady hold in the permits in the Midwest from September, preliminary numbers for completions are up in the Northeast 40.5% from September 2022 and 15.7% from October 2021.

 New home sales in October were seasonally adjusted to reflect a 7.5% increase above the September rate which is still 5.8% lower than October 2021. Existing-home sales dropped once again, for the ninth month in a row to a 5.9% drop from last month and 28.4% from October 2021. However, the median home price for existing-homes rose 6.6% to $379,100 from October 2021.

October construction spending remained relatively stable in the residential space and seems to be staying there. This trend follows a period of 24 consecutive months of increases. Given the unsettled state of the economy, there is no reason to believe builders will step up any time soon, however they are holding steady at this time.