by Calculated Risk on 8/16/2024 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 1,238,000. This is 6.8 percent below the revised June estimate of 1,329,000 and is 16.0 percent below the July 2023 rate of 1,473,000. Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 851,000; this is 14.1 percent below the revised June figure of 991,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 363,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,396,000. This is 4.0 percent below the revised June rate of 1,454,000 and is 7.0 percent below the July 2023 rate of 1,501,000. Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 938,000; this is 0.1 percent below the revised June figure of 939,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 408,000 in July.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000.

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased in July compared to June.   Multi-family starts were down 18.3% year-over-year.

Single-family starts (red) decreased in July and were 14.8% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery - and the recent collapse and recovery in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in July were below expectations and starts in May and June were revised down.  A very weak report.

I'll have more later …