Single-family housing starts declined 0.2% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 895,000, a 3.2% decrease from the year before, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Single-family permits, a gauge of future building, fell 2.4% to an annualized 871,000.
Overall housing starts jumped 19% to 1.43 million units. The gain came almost entirely from multifamily construction, which surged 76.2% to a 532,000 annualized pace.
NAHB Chairman Bill Owens attributed the single-family decline to elevated mortgage rates and higher construction financing costs weakening builder confidence and buyer demand. Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB's assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis, pointed to rising building material prices, transportation costs and insurance expenses making new construction more expensive.
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