Housing Starts Down a Bit in July

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 425,000; this is 4.9 percent (plus or minus 8.9 percent) below the revised June figure of 447,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 170,000.

Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000. This is 1.5 percent (plus or minus 10.7 percent) below the revised June estimate of 613,000, but is 9.8 percent (plus or minus 10.8 percent) above the July 2010 rate of 550,000. Single unit starts declined at 0.9 percent with 5 or more units increasing 66.7 percent.

The Northeast was the region that fared the best with an overall increase of 27.6 percent during the past year, with a decrease of 15.7 percent for single units. The Midwest did the poorest with an overall decline of 17.4 percent and was down 14.5 percent for single units.

- Courtesy of US Census Bureau