The U.S. Census Bureau said this morning the number of new housing starts, including all building types, during August fell 14.4 percent from the previous month largely because fewer apartments and other kinds of multifamily housing were built. That report doesn't include metro-level data, but earlier this month we reported that the construction scene in the Twin Cities showed a similar decline in annual and month-to-month permit activity during August due largely to fewer permits for apartment buildings, which accounted for 26 percent of all new units compared with a 50 percent average for the year.

Nationwide last month there was only a slight decline in the number of new single-family houses, which were down 2.4 percent compared with the previous month. Total starts were 8.0 percent higher than August of last year, and single-family starts were 4.2 percent above the year-ago pace.

Brad Hunter of Metrostudy said that new home production has been gyrating month-to-month, but is likely to end "flat." That's despite the strongest builder confidence in nine years, as reported earlier this week by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. Hunter said that increase is a sign that home buyers are adjusting to higher home prices. They're also feeling more confident about their personal finances.

This chart from the Builders Association of the Twin Cities shows construction activity for the Twin Cities metro using data from the Keystone Report.