Housing starts declined 8.0% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. The rate was 8.1% below the June 2022 rate.
“Housing starts posted a monthly decline in June as tightening monetary policy helped push mortgage rates up more than a quarter-point over the past month,” stated Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “Policymakers need to remove regulatory bottlenecks that impede the housing industry’s ability to increase the production of quality, affordable housing."
Regionally, month-over-month, housing starts dipped 2.1% in the Northeast, 4.4% in the South, 1.2% in the West and 33.1% in the Midwest.
Building permits fell 3.7% from May and plunged 15.3% compared with June 2022.
Housing completions declined 3.3% from May but were up 5.5% compared with June 2022.
