by However, the increases were primarily in the West and South, while other activity, including building permits and housing starts, lag throughout the country
WASHINGTON — July housing completions rose nearly 14% from July 2023, but building permits and housing starts declined during the same period, showing an ongoing slowdown in demand for new construction.
Housing completions in July totaled 1,529,000, up 13.8% from 1,343,000 in July 2023. However, they were down 9.8% from a revised June estimate of 1,696,000. Single-family housing completions totaled 1,054,000, up .5% above the revised June rate of 1,049,000.
Meanwhile, housing starts totaled 1,238,000 in July, 16% below 1,473,000 in July 2023 and 6.8% below a revised June estimate of 1,329,000. The number of single-family housing starts in July totaled 851,000, 14% below a revised June rate of 991,000.
Building permits issued totaled 1,396,000, 7% below 1,5051,000 in July 2023 and 4% below a revised June rate of 1,501,000. The number of building permits issued for single-family homes totaled 938,000 in June, .1% below a revised June rate of 939,000.
The year-over-year increase in completions could be good news for home furnishings retailers as it means people were ready to move into new homes and also buy furniture for those homes during the summer months. This could explain some of the heightened sales at retail in July compared to previous months as recently reported by Home News Now.
However, the decreases in housing starts and building permits issued could delay some additional furniture purchases over the near term until those homes are completed sometime in the months ahead. An exception could be in the Northeast, which saw significant double-digit increases in both residential permits issued and housing starts over both July 2023 and June.
By region the activity was as follows:
In the Northeast, there were 136,000 residential building permits issued, up 11.5% from 122,000 issued in July 2023 and up 16.2% from 117,000 in June. There were 165,000 residential units started, up 45.2% from 113,000 in July 2023 and up 42.6% from 115,000 started in June. There were 77,000 residential units completed in July, down 23% from 100,000 in July 2023 and down 39.8% from 128,000 in June.
In the Midwest, there were 181,000 residential building permits issued in July, down 6.7% from 194,000 issued in July 2023, and down 12.6% from 207,000 issued in June. There were 171,000 units started, down 1.7% from 174,000 units started in July 2023 and also down 1.7% from 174,000 started in June. There were 196,000 completed in the Midwest, down 5.2% from 207,000 in July 2023 and down 41% from 332,000 completed in June.
In the South, there were 776,000 residential building permits issued in July, down 7.9% from 843,000 issued in July 2023 and down 4.2% from 810,000 issued in June. There were 640,000 units started in the region, down 20% from 800,000 started in July 2023 and down 13.6% from 741,000 started in June. There were 867,000 completed, up 15.9% from 748,000 in July 2023 and down 2.9% from 893,000 in June.
In the West, there were 303,000 residential building permits issued in July, down 11.4% from 342,000 issued in July 2023 and down 5.3% from 320,000 issued in June. There were 263,000 units started, down 31.9% from 386,000 started in July 2023 and down 12% from 299,000 started in June. In the West, there were 389,000 residential units completed, up 35.1% from 288,000 in July 2023 and up 13.4% from 343,000 in June.
