Housing starts in the U.S. declined by seven percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.534 million units. At the same time, the U.S. Commerce Department revised June’s preliminary numbers upward, from 1.643 million units to 1.65 million. July’s decline was greater than expected, with economists projecting a SAAR of 1.6 million units in a Reuters poll.
Gains in multi-family building permits drove an overall increase of 2.6 percent, to a rate of 1.635 million units. For single-family dwellings, permits were down 1.7 percent to a rate of 1.048 million units.
