by Calculated Risk on 8/16/2013 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000. This is 5.9 percent above the revised June estimate of 846,000 and is 20.9 percent above the July 2012 rate of 741,000.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 591,000; this is 2.2 percent below the revised June figure of 604,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 290,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 943,000. This is 2.7 percent above the revised June rate of 918,000 and is 12.4 percent above the July 2012 estimate of 839,000.

Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 613,000; this is 1.9 percent below the revised June figure of 625,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 303,000 in July.

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) decreased in July (Multi-family is volatile month-to-month).

Single-family starts (blue) decreased slightly to 591,000 SAAR in July (Note: June was revised up from 591 thousand to 604 thousand).

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and that housing starts have been generally increasing after moving sideways for about two years and a half years.

This was slightly below expectations of 904 thousand starts in July, but Permits were strong. Total starts in July were up 21% from July 2012; single family starts were only up 15.4% year-over-year.  I'll have more later ...