Briefing.com: Housing Starts

Updated: 19-Aug-25 09:14 ET

July Housing Starts

Updated: 19-Aug-25 09:14 ET

Highlights

Housing starts increased 5.2% month-over-month in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.428 million units (Briefing.com consensus: 1.311 million), with single-unit starts up 2.8% and multi-unit starts up 9.9%.
Building permits decreased 2.8% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.354 million units (Briefing.com consensus: 1.390 million), with single-unit permits up 0.5% and multi-unit permits down 8.2%.

Key Factors

The change in single-unit starts by region: Northeast (-8.3%); Midwest (-15.0%); South (+13.2%); and West (-7.1%).
The change in single-unit permits by region: Northeast (+3.6%); Midwest (0.0%); South (+0.6%); and West (-0.6%).
Multi-unit starts increased 9.9% month-over-month, while multi-unit permits decreased 8.2% month-over-month.
The number of units under construction at the end of the period rose just 0.1% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.357 million, with single-unit dwellings under construction sliding 1.0% to 621,000.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that there wasn't much strength in single-unit starts or permits, which is relatively disappointing in the context of a housing market that needs more affordable, single-family homes for sale. In fact, single-unit starts were down in all regions except the South (+13.2%).