The monthly
report on new residential construction from the Commerce Department revealed on
Friday that housing starts tumbled by 6.8 per cent m-o-m in July to a
seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.238 million (the lowest
level since May 2020), while
building permits plunged by 4.0 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1.396 million (the lowest level since June 2020).
Economists had predicted
housing starts of 1.330 million units for July and building permits of 1.430
million units.
Data for June
was revised to show homebuilding increasing
at a pace of 1.329 million units, instead of rising at a rate of 1.353 million
units as originally announced.
According to
the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market,
slipped by 0.1 per cent m-o-m in July, while approvals for the
multi-family homes segment (includes 2 to 4 and 5 or more housing units) declined
by 11.1 per cent m-o-m.
In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family
homes plummeted by 14.1 per cent m-o-m in July, while multi-unit starts climbed
by 11.7 per cent m-o-m.