Housing Starts Fall in June on Fewer Multifamily Units
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New home construction fell in June for a second month as a drop in apartment building outweighed a pickup in single-family projects.
Residential starts declined 0.9% to a 1.25 million annualized rate, the slowest in three months, according to government figures released July 17. Permits, a proxy for future construction, dropped 6.1% to a 1.22 million rate, also reflecting a slump in applications to build multifamily units.
Single-family starts advanced 3.5% to an annualized rate of 847,000, and permits edged up 0.4% to 813,000.
The figures on one-family home construction signals the sector is relatively stable as lower borrowing costs and more subdued price appreciation make homeownership more affordable. °®¶¹´«Ã½ construction hasn’t contributed to economic growth since the fourth quarter of 2017. A report July 16 showed homebuilder sentiment increased in July amid solid demand for single- family homes and prospective buyer traffic.
Starts of multifamily homes, a category that tends to be volatile and includes apartment buildings and condominiums, slumped 9.2%, and permits plunged 16.8%.
