US housing starts gain momentum in July

Single-family home starts rose 2.8% to a SAAR of 939,000, compared to 913,000 in June and were off 7.8% from 871,000 in July 2024.

Builders had 621,000 single-family homes under construction in July, down 1% from June and 3.7% lower than the 645,000 recorded in July 2024. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said this marks the lowest level since early 2021. 

Multi-family housing construction reached 470,000 units in July, up 11.6% from June and 27.4% above the level a year earlier. 

“Single-family housing starts posted a modest gain in July as builders continue to contend with challenging housing affordability conditions and a host of supply-side headwinds, including labor shortages, elevated construction costs and inefficient regulatory costs,” NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement. 

Regionally, year-to-date through July single-family and multi-family starts rose 10.2% in the Northeast and 17.7% in the Midwest vs. the same period in 2024. The South recorded a 2.4% decline, and the West slipped 0.5%. 

Census Bureau data show that overall building permits in July stood at a SAAR of 1.35 million, down 2.8% from 1.39 million in June. July permits were 5.7% below the July 2024 rate of 1.43 million. Single-family permits reached 870,000 in July, 0.5% above June’s revised figure of 866,000.