Single-Family Housing Starts, Permits Slide 10.1% and 4.3%, Respectively

August 16, 2022 from Floor Focus FloorDaily News

Washington, D.C., August 16, 2022 – Overall, housing starts are slowing, but permits have not been as affected, according to the latest Census Bureau data. Single-family construction, however, tells a slightly different story.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.674 million, which is 1.3% below the revised June rate of 1.696 million but 1.1% above the July 2021 rate of 1.655 million. Privately owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.446 million, 9.6% below the revised June estimate of 1.599 million and 8.1% below the July 2021 rate of 1.573 million.

The biggest hits are in single-family. Single‐family authorizations in July were at a rate of 928,000, a 4.3% drop from the revised June figure of 970,000 and 11.7% lower than last July’s 1,051. The related housing starts were at a rate of 916,000, which is 10.1% below the revised June figure of 1.019 million and 18.5% below the rate of 1,124 last July.

Meanwhile, authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 693,000 in July, a 2.5% bump above June’s revised 676 and 26.2% above the 549 in July 2021. The start rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 514,000 in July, down 10% from June’s revised 571 but 17.4% above July 2021’s 438.