The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced new residential construction statistics for July 2013.
Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 943,000. This is 2.7% above the revised June rate of 918,000 and is 12.4% above the July 2012 estimate of 839,000. Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 613,000; this is 1.9% below the revised June figure of 625,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 303,000 in July.
On the housing starts front, privately owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000. This is 5.9% above the revised June estimate of 846,000 and is 20.9% above the July 2012 rate of 741,000. Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 591,000; this is 2.2% below the revised June figure of 604,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 290,000.
