Housing starts drop 9.6% in July
Housing starts continued to retreat in July.
Total privately‐owned housing starts for the month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.446 million, falling 9.6% from the revised June estimate of 1.599 million.
The latest figure, released this morning by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is also 8.1% below the July 2021 rate of 1.573 million.
Single‐family housing starts tumbled 10.1% to a rate of 916,000 from the revised June rate of 1.019 million.
On a year-over-year basis, single-family starts declined 18.5% from July 2021 rate of 1.124 million.
The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 514,000, dropping 10% compared to a revised June rate of 571,000.
Year-over-year, starts for buildings with five units or more increased more than 17% from the July 2021 figure.
Total housing permits dipped 1.3% to a rate of 1.674 million compared to a revised June rate of 1.696 million.
Single-family permits decreased 4.3% to a rate of 928,000 from the revised June figure of 970,000. The latest report is also nearly a 12% decline from the July 2021 rate of 1.051 million.
Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 693,000 in July, edging upward 2.5% from the prior month.
Year-over-year, permits for building with five units or more jumped more 26.2%.
Here's how housing starts and permits for July 2022 performed on a regional basis compared to the prior month.
- In the Northeast, total starts soared 65.5% as single-family starts jumped ahead 60.4%. Combined permits rose by 9.3% as single-family permits saw an increase of 17.3%
- In the Midwest, total housing starts dropped 33.8% as single-family starts decreased 27.8%. Overall permits increased 8.1% while single-family permits moved ahead 2.5%.
- In the South, total starts were down 18.7% as single-family starts fell 17.7%. Combined permits dipped by 0.1% as single-family permits retreated by 6.7%.
In the West, total starts were down 2.7% as single-family starts climbed 8.7%. Combined permits dropped by 12% and single-family permits were down 6.9%.
The latest Monthly Residential Construction Report follows yesterday's news from the National Association of Home Builders that builder confidence declined for an eight straight month.
