Housing Starts Down in June

(Image courtesy Census Bureau)

Housing starts fell by 8% from May to June, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly reported Wednesday. June’s starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,434,000, compared with May’s revised 1,559,000.

June’s housing starts were also 8.1% below June 2022, which recorded 1,561,000.

Single-family housing starts in June were at 935,000, 7% below May’s revised 1,005,000. June’s rate for units in buildings of five or more units was 482,000.

“The new residential construction report from the Census Bureau showed that single-family starts declined 7% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 935,000 in June, largely in line with our expectations following the unusually large 18.7% jump in starts the month prior,” said Mark Palim, Deputy Chief Economist at Fannie Mae.

Building permits for privately owned housing units were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,440,000, a 3.7% drop from May, and a notable 15.3% drop from a year earlier.

Single‐family authorizations in June were at a rate of 922,000, 2.2% above the revised May figure of 902,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 467,000 in June.

“Note the steady increase in single-family housing permits, a leading indicator of future housing starts. There is a significant shortage in the U.S. housing market, and existing home supply is insufficient to meet the demand. As a result, builders are stepping up,” First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said.

In terms of completions, June’s numbers were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,468,000, 3.3% below the revised May figure. However, that is 5.5% above June 2022’s 1,392,000.

Single-family housing completions in June were 986,000, 2.8% below May; completions for units in buildings with five or more units were 476,000.