Housing Starts Up

(Thousands of Units, Seasonally-Adjusted Annual Rate) Following a sharp drop in June, total housing starts rose sharply in July. At a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 1.661 million units, July starts were 5.7% above this June’s level.

Single-family starts were up 4.4% over the month, with July 1999 activity 1.7% better than in July 1998. Multi-family starts rose 11.4% from the very low levels of the previous several months, but were 19.4% lower this July than last July.

Through the first seven months of 1999, total starts nationwide had risen by a healthy 5.2%. With a total of almost 793,000 units, single-family starts through July of this year were running 7.3% ahead of the 1998 pace. Multi-family starts in buildings with 2-4 units so far this year have come up 32.2% short of the January-July 1998 total, but starts in buildings with 5 or more units have increased at a 1.8% annualized pace.

Also See:

Consumer Confidence Down, Better Than Last Year

Double-digit Earnings Growth Belies Investors

Building Permits Up Slightly Since June

Permits Remain Strong