New Residential Construction: Housing Starts, Building Permits Mixed for July

New residential construction statistics show housing starts missed the forecast and building permits exceeded expectations in July.

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,311,000. That’s 1.5% (±1.3%) higher than the revised June rate of 1,292,000 and 4.2% (±1.7%) above the July 2017 rate of 1,258,000.

Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 869,000, or 1.9% (±1.4%) above the revised June figure of 853,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 410,000 in July.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in July came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,168,000, which is 0.9% (±11.5%)* higher than the revised June estimate of 1,158,000. However, it’s 1.4% (±11.7%)* below the July 2017 rate of 1,185,000.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 862,000, or 0.9% (±9.6%)* above the revised June figure of 854,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 303,000.

Housing Completions

Privately-owned housing completions in July came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,188,000. That’s 1.7% (±10.9%)* below the revised June estimate of 1,209,000 and 0.8% (±11.3%)* below the July 2017 rate of 1,197,000.

Single-family housing completions in July came in at a rate of 814,000, which is 5.2% (±7.8%)* below the revised June rate of 859,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 371,000.