Housing Starts
Housing starts experienced a sharper decline, plunging to a SAAR of 1.238 million in July, down 6.8% from June’s revised estimate of 1.329 million and a significant 16.0% below the July 2023 rate of 1.473 million. Single-family housing starts were particularly hard-hit, falling 14.1% from June to a rate of 851,000. The rate for units in buildings with five or more units dropped to 363,000.
Housing Completions
Despite the slowdown in permits and starts, housing completions were strong in July, with a SAAR of 1.529 million. This is a 9.8% decrease from June’s revised rate of 1.696 million but a 13.8% increase compared to July 2023. Single-family completions edged up slightly by 0.5% to a rate of 1.054 million, while completions for units in buildings with five or more units reached 473,000.