Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 851,000, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This marked a 14.1% drop from the revised June figure of 991,000.
Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.23 million, which is 6.8% below the revised June estimate of 1.32 million and is 16% below the July 2023 rate of 1.47 million.
Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 938,000, a 0.1% dip from the revised June figure of 939,000. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.39 million, which is 4% below the revised June rate of 1.45 million and 7% below the July 2023 rate of 1.5 million.
Single-family housing completions in July were at a rate of 1.05 million, a 0.5% uptick from the revised June rate of 1.04 million. Privately-owned housing completions in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52 million, down by 9.8% below the revised June estimate of 1.69 million but also up 13.8% from the July 2023 rate of 1.34 million.
First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi noted that housing starts came in below expectation and plummeted to the lowest level since May 2020.
“For more than a decade, homebuilding has not kept up with the demand for shelter, creating a housing supply deficit,” Kushi said. “As builders break ground on additional housing, we will inch closer to balancing our housing deficit. We talk a lot about mortgage rates in the context of affordability. Mortgage rates will decline modestly in the coming months as the Federal Reserve begins to lower rates, but the real solution to improving access to homeownership lies in building more housing.”
Carl Harris, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and custom home builder from Wichita, Kansas, observed, “The decline in new home construction mirrors our latest builder surveys, which show that buyers remain concerned about challenging affordability conditions and builders are grappling with elevated rates for builder loans, a shortage of workers and lots, and supply chain concerns for some building materials.”
;
