Residential Construction Sees Monthly Dip, But Is Still Up Over Last Year, Says Report

In a sign of a still-robust market, housing starts were up by 2.5% last month over July of 2020, according to a new combined Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development survey.

The growth has proven particularly explosive in single-family starts, which recorded a 27% increase over last July. Multi-family starts, too, were up significantly, by nearly 10% compared with last summer.

Not surprisingly, residential permits have additionally seen an increase with a 26% jump from July of last year to July of this year. In the single-family category, permits saw a 29% jump, with a slightly lower 19% increase in permits for multifamily work.

Altogether, in July the country saw just under 1.4 million housing completions, just over 1.5 million housing starts, and in excess of 1.6 million issued building permits.

Despite the strong year-to-year numbers, the report also noted that the July numbers were “7.0% below the revised June estimate,” with housing completions 5.6% up over the month previous.

The ongoing increase in overall permits, according to the publication Barron’s, is a sign that “builders intend to construct more housing—even as the rate of new homes authorized but not yet started remains near all-time highs.”

In an interview with the publication Builder, Odeta Kushi, chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, said of the latest numbers: “Inventory has been increasing in recent months, but we have underbuilt for a decade.”

Kushi added that the June to July 2021 decline in housing starts “isn’t welcome news.”

By Garry Boulard

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