Privately owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000 according to the Commerce Department. This is 11 percent below the revised June estimate of 1.084 million and is 29.6 percent below the revised July 2007 rate of 1.371 million. Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 641,000, which is 2.9 percent below the June figure of 660,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 309,000.

?EUR??,,????'??The single-family numbers in this report are very much in sync with what home builders have been saying in our latest surveys,?EUR??,,????'?? noted NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. ?EUR??,,????'??While there is definitely a sense that we are nearing the bottom of the downswing in home sales, builders are not ready to start ratcheting up production just yet ?EUR??,,????'??? nor should they be, until after sales begin to rebound and the inventory overhang is reduced further.?EUR??,,????'??

For the second month in a row, overall building permit numbers were skewed by a building code change in New York City that caused an unusually large fluctuation in multifamily activity for the Northeast region. Builders pulled fewer permits for anticipated new-home construction in July, said the Commerce Department. Single-family permits declined 5.2 percent for the month to a 584,000-unit rate, the lowest since August 1982. Meanwhile, overall permit issuance and multifamily permit issuance, both heavily affected by the New York City data, declined 17.7 percent to 937,000 units and 32.4 percent to 353,000 units, respectively.

Regionally, starts activity was somewhat mixed, with the Midwest posting a 10 percent gain and the South and West each posting 8.2 percent declines, while the Northeast posted a 30.4 percent decline. Permit issuance was also mixed on a regional basis, with the Midwest posting a 1.4 percent gain, the South posting a 4.1 percent gain and the West registering a 14.8 percent decline. The Northeast?EUR??,,????'???s permits, also affected by New York City data, fell 63.4 percent.

Privately owned housing completions in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.035 million. This is 8.7 percent below the revised June estimate of 1.134 million and is 31.7 percent below the revised July 2007 rate of 1.515 million. Single-family housing completions in July were at a rate of 791,000; this is 7.2 percent below the June figure of 852,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 229,000.