Economic Buzz: New Residential Construction In US Falls In July

17 Aug 2022 , 09:26 AM

New residential construction in the U.S. tumbled by much more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report showed housing starts plunged by 9.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.446 million in July after slumping by 2.4 percent to a rate of 1.559 million in June. With the much steeper than expected drop, housing starts dove to their lowest annual rate since hitting 1.430 million in February of 2021. The Commerce Department said single-family housing starts plummeted by 10.1 percent to a rate of 916,000, while multi-family starts tumbled by 8.6 percent to a rate of 530,000. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also fell by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.674 million after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.696 million in June. Single-family permits plunged by 4.3 percent to a rate of 928,000, more than offsetting a 2.8 percent jump in multi-family permits to a rate of 746,000. Powered by Commodity Insights