Aug housing starts -0.8% to 1.180m SAAR, of.>

US DATA: Aug housing starts -0.8% to 1.180m SAAR, slightly ahead of 

the 1.170m rate expected following upward revisions to the previous two 

months. Starts were down 7.9% in the South region, but the real 

hurricane impact will likely be seen in the Sept data when Florida was 

also hit. Commerce said the response rate from the affected areas was 

close to normal for permits, but that for starts and completions, it was 

only able to collect data for 60% of the cases in the affected regions. 

In those cases, those homes are considered to be in their previous 

status of not started or under construction. Single-family starts +1.6%, 

while multi-family starts -6.5%. Building permits +5.7% to 1.300m SAAR, 

but single-family -1.5% and multi-family +19.6%. Completions -10.2% to 

1.075m SAAR. 3Q average for starts and permits ahead of the 2Q average, 

but the addition of the Sept data is unlikely to be favorable. In fact, 

the NAHB's index for Sept fell sharply when it was reported Monday due 

to concerns about labor and materials shortages. See MNI main wire.