June Housing Construction Increases

Multifamily housing construction was up substantially in June, leading to a 9.1 percent overall increase in housing starts over the previous month.

Housing starts jumped in June on the heels of a 42.5 percent jump in multifamily construction activity, according to a report by the Commerce Department.

Privately owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate if 1.066 million. This is 9.1 percent above the revised May estimate of 977,000, but is 26.9 percent below the revised June 2007 rate of 1.458 million.

The numbers for single-family housing starts in June continued their downward trend, however. Single-family stars were at a rate of 647,000, which is 5.3 percent below the May figure of 683,000.

A change in New York building codes spurred a wave of apartment construction that led to the hike in the multifamily numbers. The latest regional data showed that Northeast housing starts more than doubled in June, while Midwest starts posted a 10.5 percent decline, starts in the South posted a 0.4 percent gain and starts in the West registered an 8.2 percent decline in June.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.091 million. This is 11.6 percent above the revised May rate of 978,000, but is 23.9 percent below the revised June 2007 estimate of 1.433 million. Single-family authorizations in June were at a rate of 613,000; this is 3.5 percent below the May figure of 635,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 446,000 in June.

Building permits, also affected by the New York City data, showed a 73 percent gain in the Northeast for June, along with more typical numbers such as a 2 percent decline in the Midwest, a 3 percent gain in the South and a 0.9 percent gain in the West.

Privately owned housing completions in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.167 million. This is 1.2 percent above the revised May estimate of 1.153 million, but is 21.7 percent below the revised June 2007 rate of 1.491 million. Single-family housing completions in June were at a rate of 859,000; this is 2.9 percent below the May figure of 885,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 289,000.

Source: Commerce Department