by Building permits, housing starts and housing completions are all down from last year, while permits and housing starts are up from May
WASHINGTON — June housing construction activity fell again from a year ago, while building permits and housing starts increased from a month earlier.
Data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday July 18 showed that housing completions took the biggest dive, down 24.1% from June 2024 and down 14.7% from May. There were 1,314,000 units completed in June, compared with 1,731,000 in June 2024 and 1,540,000 in May.
Of the total completed in June, 908,000, or 69.1% were single-family units, with the balance being structures with five or more units. This was 12.5% below the revised May rate of 1,038,000.
There were 1,397,000 residential permits issued, down 4.4% from 1,461,000 in June 2024 and .2% above the revised May rate of 1,394,000.
Of the June total permits issued, 866,000, or 61.9% were single-family homes, with the balance being structures with five or more units. The figure was 3.7% below the revised May total of 899,000.
There were 1,321,000 housing starts, down .5% from 1,327,000 in June 2024 but up 4.6% from the revised May rate of 1,263,000.
Of these, 883,000, or 66.8% were single-family homes, with the balance being structures with five or more units. This was 4.6% below the revised May total of 926,000.
The double-digit decline in housing completions year over year and since May suggests there will be less people moving into newly built homes during the early weeks of summer, and hence slower furniture sales in July. Retail figures show that sales have held up from last September through this June. But amid waning consumer confidence and current interest rate levels, it’s uncertain whether that trend will continue.
By region, the activity was as follows:
+ In the Northeast, there were 109,000 residential building permits issued, down 7.6% from 118,000 issued in June 2024 and down 11.4% from 123,000 issued in May. There were 182,000 units started, up 52.9% from 119,000 started in June 2024 and up 73.3% from 105,000 in May. There were 132,000 units completed, down 13.7% from 153,000 units completed in June 2024 and down 21.4% from 168,000 completed in May.
+ In the Midwest, there were 217,000 permits issued, up 4.3% from 208,000 in June 2024 and level with 217,000 issued in May. There were 179,000 units started, up 1.7% from 176,000 in June 2024 and down 5.3% from 189,000 in May. There were 199,000 units completed, down 38.6% from 324,000 in June 2024 and up 9.3% from 182,000 in May.
+ In the South, there were 775,000 permits issued in June, down 4.2% from 809,000 issued in June 2024 and up 4.4% from 742,000 issued in May. There were 674,000 units started, down 9% from 741,000 started in June 2024 and down .7% from 679,000 in May. There were 676,000 units completed, down 25.4% from 906,000 completed in June 2024 and down 13.3% from 780,000 in May.
+ In the West, there were 296,000 permits issued in June, down 9.2% from 326,000 issued in June 2024 and down 5.1% from 312,000 issued in May. There were 286,000 units started, down 1.7% from 291,000 started in June 2024 and down 1.4% from 290,000 started in May. There were 307,000 completed, down 11.8% from 348,000 completed in June 2024 and down 25.1% from 410,000 completed in May.
