After climbing for two consecutive months, single-family housing starts in July fell 4.9 percent to 425,000 from the revised June figure of 447,000, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The latest figure is 0.9 percent below the July 2010 rate of 429,000.
Overall housing starts-including multi-family units-reached an annual rate of 604,000, 1.5 percent below the revised June estimate of 613,000. The latest overall figure is 9.8 percent above the July 2010 rate of 550,000.
"Although single-family housing production slid a few notches in July, the number was right in line with the second quarter average, so we view this report as an indication of relative stability," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "This is in keeping with the fact that not much has changed over the past several months with regard to the outlook for new-home sales and production. Both builders and buyers continue to exercise a great deal of caution due to uncertainty about the current economic climate, the large number of foreclosed homes on the market, and concerns about access to credit."
David Crowe, chief economist with NAHB, said, "Going forward, we expect housing production to show modest improvement through the end of this year, particularly in select markets that do not have large inventories of distressed homes and where economic stability is more apparent."
