June Housing Starts Shoot Higher as Demand Remains Strong

July 19, 2017 by Paul Ausick

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Tuesday morning that new housing starts in June rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.215 million, an increase of 8.1% from the upwardly revised May rate of 1.122 million and an increase of 2.1% compared with the June 2016 rate of 1.190 million. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 1.170 million.

The revision to the May rate added 30,000 new housing starts to the previously reported total.

The seasonally adjusted rate of new building permits rose to 1.254 million, up 7.4% from the upwardly revised May rate of 1.206 million and up 5.1% from the June 2016 rate of 1.193 million. The consensus estimate called for 1.206 million new building permits.

Single-family housing starts rose in June to an annualized rate of 849,000, up 6.3% from the revised May rate of 799,000. Single-family starts fell by 2.9% year over year in May.

The June report is solidly higher than the May report, even after upward adjustments to the May figures. Tuesday’s report on homebuilders’ confidence level was lower than expected, but that was likely due to higher costs pressuring both margins and affordability.

Permits for new single-family homes rose 0.8% month over month in June, to an adjusted annual rate of 811,000, from a revised total of 779,000 in May. The rate rose 9.2% year over year.

Multi-family starts for buildings with 5 or more units decreased by 10.7% year over year in June but rose by 15.4% compared with May.

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