us home builders started construction on homes at a seasonallyadjusted annual rate of 156 million in september representing a 16 decrease from the previous month the us census bureau reported tuesday compared with september 2020 housing starts were up 74 the pace of permitting for new housing units also dropped in september permitting for new homes occurred at a seasonallyadjusted annual rate of 159 million down 77 from august in line with the rate of permitting from a year ago economists polled by marketwatch had expected housing starts to occur at a pace of 161 million and building permits to come in at a pace of 167 million the drop in permits was driven mainly by a decrease in multifamily housing units though fewer singlefamily homes were permitted as well new construction on multifamily buildings actually increased in september though singlefamily starts decreased slightly