Housing starts slumped in June as a large drop in multi-family construction overshadowed a modest decline in single-family construction according to the latest data released by the Census Bureau.
The large jump in new construction for multi-family dwellings in May was wiped out by the near 27 percent drop in June. Building permits for multi-family housing also suffered a large decline.
Housing Starts:
Privately owned housing starts fell by 9.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 836,000 in June down from a revised estimate of 928,000 in May. Housing starts were still 10.4 percent higher than in June 2012 which had an estimated 757,000 seasonally adjusted annual starts.
Single-family housing starts in June were off slightly from May with starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000, down a modest 0.8 percent from a revised estimate of 596,000 starts in May but were still 11.5 percent higher than in June of last year when an estimated 530,000 starts were reported.
Housing starts for multi-family dwellings fell by 26.7 percent from a revised rate of 322,000 starts in May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 236,000 starts in June. Housing starts for multi-family dwellings were 7.8 percent higher than a year ago when an estimated 219,000 starts were recorded.
On an unadjusted basis, housing starts decreased by 8.7 percent falling from 88,100 starts in May to 80,400 starts in June.
Regionally, monthly housing starts declined in all four regions with the Northeast posting the largest decline of 12.1 percent closely followed by the South with a 12.0 percent decline. The Midwest posted a decline of 7.4 percent while the West saw starts decline by 5.4 percent.
Compared to a year ago, three of the four regions posted increases in housing starts with the Midwest posting the largest increase of 29.9 percent, followed by the Northeast with a 20.5 percent gain while the South posted an increase of 14.9 percent. The West recorded the only annual decline of 9.9 percent.
Building Permits:
The number of building permits issued in June fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 911,000, down 7.5 percent from a revised estimate of 985,000 permits in May. Authorized building permits were 16.1 percent higher than the June 2012 estimate of 785,000.
Single-family building permit authorizations were 0.6 percent higher in June than May with 624,000 permits authorized in June compared to a revised 620,000 in May. Building permit authorizations for single-family homes were 24.6 percent higher than in June of last year which had an estimated 501,000 permits issued.
Multi-family dwelling permits declined for a second month in June, falling to 261,000 authorizations from a revised total of 338,000 in May, a decrease of 22.8 percent. Authorizations for multi-family dwellings were still 0.4 percent higher than in June of last year which had an estimated 260,000 authorizations.
Building permit authorizations declined in three of the four regions in June. In the South, authorizations fell by 11.2 percent followed by the West where authorizations declined by 7.2 percent while in the Midwest, permits declined by 4.6 percent. Only the Northeast posted an increase, rising by 5.9 percent.
Year-over-year, building permit authorizations increased in all four regions with the Northeast posting the largest increase of 32.1 percent, followed by the Midwest which posted a 19.7 percent increase and the South and the West saw gains of 13.3 and 12.6 percent, respectively.
Housing Completions:
The number of homes that were completed during the month increased by 6.3 percent from May to June with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 755,000 completions reported in June compared to May’s revised estimate of 710,000 completions. Housing completions were 20.2 percent higher than in June of last year when an estimated 628,000 annual completions were reported.
Single-family completions in June were at an annual rate of 554,000 units, which was 1.1 percent lower than May’s revised rate of 560,000 and 15.4 percent above last year’s rate of 480,000 units. Multi-family completions in June were at a rate of 188,000 units, 34.3 percent higher than the rate of 140,000 units completed in May and 43.5 percent higher than the 131,000 completions in June of last year.
On an unadjusted basis, housing completions in 2013 have so far been 21.8 percent higher than in 2012.
Tags: housing starts, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, building permits, housing completions
Source:
Census Bureau
Reported by Chris Moore
