by Number of residential permits issued fell 13% during the same period, while the number of units completed fell 5.4%
WASHINGTON — July housing starts rose nearly 6% compared to July of last year, while building permits issued fell 13% compared to the same period.
Meanwhile, the number of units completed was 5.4% below the number of units completed in July 2022.
The 1,452,000 housing starts recorded in July were 5.9% above the July 2022 rate of 1,371,000. Building permits totaled 1,442,000, down 13% from 1,658,000 in July 2022. The number of units completed in July was 1,321,000, 5.4% below the rate of 1,396,000 in July 2022.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released the numbers Wednesday, offering another window into a segment that has a significant impact on furniture sales. While the numbers were not all positive, there was some increase in activity over June, signifying that builders are taking advantage of the summer season to get projects underway well before the end of the year.
For example, housing starts rose 3.9% in July compared to a revised June estimate of 1,398,000. The number of building permits rose .1% compared to a revised June rate of 1,441,000, while the number of housing completions was 11.8% below the revised estimate of 1,498,000 in June.
Single-family housing starts totaled 983,000 in July, 6.7% above a revised June rate of 921,000, while single-family building permits issued totaled 930,000, .6% above the revised June number of 924,000. Single-family housing completions totaled 1,018,000, up 1.3% from the revised June figure of 1,005,000.
By region the activity was as follows:
In the Northeast, there were 102,000 housing starts, down 38.9% from the 167,000 reported in July 2022 and up 1% from 101,000 in June. There also were 110,000 residential building permits issued, down 30.8% from the 159,000 reported in July 2022 and up 3.8% from the 106,000 reported in June. In the region, there were 83,000 units completed, down 9.8% from the 92,000 completed in July 2022 and down 38.5% from the 135,000 completed in June.
In the Midwest, there were 178,000 residential units started, up 10.6% from the 167,000 started in July 2022 and up 9.9% from the 162,000 reported in June. There were 181,000 permits issued, down 15% from the 213,000 reported in July 2022 and 7.7% from the 196,000 reported in June. There were 196,000 units completed, down 30.5% from the 282,000 completed in July 2022, but up 2.1% from the 192,000 completed in June.
In the South, there were 789,000 residential units started in July, up 11.9% from the 705,000 started in July 2022 and down 1.3% from the 799,000 reported in June. There were 811,000 permits issued, down 11.1% from the 912,000 issued in July 2022 but up 1.2% from the 801,000 issued in June. The number of units completed in the region totaled 737,000, up 3.4% from the 713,000 completed in July 2022, but down 12.6% from 843,000 reported in June.
In the West, there were 383,000 residential units started, up 13.3% from the 338,000 started in July 2022, and up 14% from the 336,000 started in June. There were 340,000 residential building permits issued, down 9.1% from the 374,000 issued in July 2022 but up .6% from the 338,000 issued in June. The number of units completed in the region totaled 305,000, down 1.3% from the 309,000 completed in July 2022, and down 7% from the 328,000 completed in June.
