by Calculated Risk on 7/17/2014 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Housing Starts decline to 893 thousand Annual Rate in June
From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions
Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 893,000. This is 9.3 percent below the revised May estimate of 985,000, but is 7.5 percent above the June 2013 rate of 831,000.
Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 575,000; this is 9.0 percent below the revised May figure of 632,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 305,000.
emphasis added
Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 963,000. This is 4.2 percent below the revised May rate of 1,005,000, but is 2.7 percent above the June 2013 estimate of 938,000.
Single-family authorizations in June were at a rate of 631,000; this is 2.6 percent above the revised May figure of 615,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 301,000 in June.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.
Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) decreased in June (Multi-family is volatile month-to-month).
Single-family starts (blue) also decreased in June.
The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

This was well below expectations of 1.020 million starts in June. Note: Starts for April and May were revised slightly lower. I'll have more later.