Residential Construction Metrics Rose Significantly in July

Two important measures of strength inrnthe housing and construction industries moved substantially higher in July thernU.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development saidrntoday.  The number of permits issued andrnconstruction starts both jumped while housing completions were also up.  In addition today’s report revisedrnsignificantly upward the relatively dismal June numbers released last month forrnall three construction elements.   </p

In July permits were issued for constructionrnof privately owned residential housing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,052,000rnunits.  This was an increase of 8.1rnpercent from the June rate of 973,000 units and was 7.7 percent higher than thernestimate for July 2013 of 977,000.  Junernpermits were originally estimated to be at the rate of 963,000 units.</p

Single family home permits were issuedrnat a rate of 640,000, 0.9 percent above the revised figure (from 631,000) ofrn634,000 units.  Construction in buildingsrnwith five or more residential units was authorized at the rate of 382,000rncompared to 309,000 units in June, an increase of 23.6 percent.</p

Housing starts in July were estimated tornbe at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,093,000.  This represents a surge of 15.7 percent comparedrnto June’s revised estimate of 945,000, itself a significant revision from thern893,000 units originally reported.  ThernJuly estimate is 21.7 percent above the rate of housing starts in July 2013 ofrn898,000.</p

Single family home starts rose 8.3rnpercent from the revised June estimate of 606,000 to 656,000.  June’s single-family starts were reportedrnlast month at 575,000.  Starts of unitsrnin buildings with five or more were at the rate of 423,000, 33 percent higherrnthan starts in June.</p

Housing completions were at the rate ofrn841,000, up 3.7 percent from the revised June estimate of 811,000 and 8.0rnpercent higher than in July 2013 when 779,000 units were completed.  June’s completions were originally estimatedrnat 789,000.</p

The rate of single-family completions inrnJuly was 635,000, up 6.2 percent from June rate of 598,000.    Completions of multifamily units was at arnrate of 199,000 compared to 208,000 in June.</p

On a non-seasonally adjusted basisrnhousing permits were issued for 97,100 units, 61,000 of which were singlernfamily units compared to 92,300 and 61,100 permits in June.  Year-to-date there have been 602,500 permitsrnissued, a 6.1 percent increase over the same period in 2013.</p

Construction starts numbered 101,000 andrnsingle family starts 61,600 in July; the numbers were 90,500 and 62,200 inrnJune.  Thus far this year constructionrnhas started on 584,900 units, an increase of 9.1 percent over constructionrnstarts by the end of July 2013.</p

There were 70,500 housing unitsrncompleted in July, 51,800 of which were single family housing compared torn71,600 and 51,900 in June.  Housingrncompletions year-to-date total 462,500, 14.3 percent more than a year earlier.</p

In the Northeast permits increased 18.8rnpercent from June and 5.3 percent from one year earlier.  Housing starts were 44.0 percent above thernrate in June and 26.3 percent higher than the same month in 2013.  Completions dropped by 15 percent from Junernand were 20.9 percent below the rate the previous July.</p

Permits in the Midwest were issued at arnrate 0.6 percent below the previous month but 17.0 percent above that of Julyrn2013.  Housing starts were down by arnquarter from the month before but were 1.9 percent higher than a year earlier.rnCompletions were a slight 0.7 percent higher than the previous month but werern26.4 percent above the rate in July 2013. </p

The South had an increase in permitsrnissued of 9.6 percent compared to June and 8.6 percent relative to July 2013.  Housing starts jumped by 29.0 percent fromrnJuly and 27.4 percent compared to the previous year.  Completions rose by 6.2 percent from thernmonth before and were 13.2 percent above the level a year earlier.</p

Permitting was up by 7.2 percentrnmonth-over-month and 0.08 percent year-over-year in the West and housing startsrnincreased by 18.6 percent and 23.4 percent respectively.  Completions were 9.1 percent above the rate inrnJune but 1.0 percent lower than a year earlier. </p

The report estimates that on arnnon-seasonally adjusted basis there were 804,100 units under construction atrnthe end of July.  An estimated 363,800rnare single family houses and 430,400 are units in buildings with five or morernunits.  The Northeast has an estimatedrn121,800 units and the Midwest an estimated 125,200 units under construction;rnbuilding is underway on 358,300 units in the South and 198,800 in the West.</p

At the end of the reporting period therernwere an estimated 110,800 permits outstanding for which construction had notrnbeen started; 58,300 permits were for single family units and 50,600 for unitsrnof multi-family housing. 

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