Housing Starts Fall by 2 Percent in June, a Significant Improvement Over May’s 12 Percent Drop

A strong 10 percent rise in multifamily starts prevents a greater decline.

Construction of new homes in June reaches an annual rate of 1.56 million units, the slowest in eight months.
Single family starts fall by 8 percent for the month to a 982,000 unit annual rate, the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
Higher mortgage rates and home prices are causing demand for single-family housing to crater.
Multifamily construction has picked up the slack and represents a larger proportion of new homes- 37 percent in June, seven percentage points more than a year ago and the highest in five years.
The trend in housing starts follows that of permits, which registered an 8 percent drop for single-family units, offset by a 12 percent increase for multifamily construction.
On a regional basis, both the Northeast and West logged gains, while the Midwest and South dropped.
Despite the relative slow-down in new housing construction, builders are still unable to deliver homes on a timely basis as the number of houses under construction remain at an all-time record, 1.68 million units.