Housing-start activity cools off in October

Housing starts fell back to more normal levels in October, with cities and towns authorizing 428 new housing units statewide. Last month’s total was down 34% from September, when 649 new housing permits were issued. 

Newtown saw the most new permits, with 79, followed by Stamford and New Haven, both with 48. New Haven has seen 784 housing starts so far this year, compared with 277 for the same period in 2019. Starts in October statewide plunged 60.1% compared to October of 2019, although that month saw unusually elevated activity due to one large apartment complex that was permitted in Stamford.

For the year to date, 2020 has seen 4,168 new permits statewide compared to 4,218 in 2019.