Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,155,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 4.8% below the revised June estimate of 1,213,000 and 5.6% below the July 2016 rate of 1,223,000. Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 856,000, 0.5% below the revised June figure of 860,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 287,000.
“The overall strengthening of the single-family sector is consistent with solid builder confidence in the market,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas. “The sector should continue to firm as the job market and economy grow and more consumers enter the housing market.”
“New-home production numbers this month are in line with our forecast for a slow and steady recovery of the housing market,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “We saw multifamily production peak in 2015, and this sector should continue to level off as demand remains solid.”
