EmailNew housing starts fell 1.1% from 754,000 in June to 746,000 in July. The Briefing.com consensus expected housing starts to increase to 763,000. Single-family construction levels fell to 502,000 in July from 537,000 in June, a 6.5% drop. That was the lowest number of single-family starts since March. Multifamily starts, which are much more volatile than single-family construction, increased 12.4% from 217,000 in June to 244,000 in July. The overall drop in starts is likely the result of normal volatility as builders keep inventory growth at a slow but manageable pace. The data on the number of homes under construction confirms this as levels increased from 483,000 in June to 489,000 in July.
That was the eleventh consecutive monthly gain. Building permits increased 6.8% from 760,000 in June to 812,000 in July. That was the first time permits have exceeded 800,000 since August 2008 and is a good indicator that the number of starts will accelerate in the near future.
