WASHINGTON–U.S. housing starts edged down 1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 581,000, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Most of the dropoff occurred in starts of multi-unit housing, which fell 16.7 percent last month; starts of single-unit housing rose 1.7 percent. In a statement about the monthly numbers from the National Association of Home Builders, Joe Robson, NAHB chairman, said builders rushed to get homes started in July so that potential buyers could take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which is slated to expire by the end of November. “Builders were responding to improved demand related to that upcoming deadline and also to the first signs of an economic recovery,” Robson said.
David Crowe, chief economist for NAHB, said the Commerce Department’s figures marked the fifth consecutive month of improvement for single-family home starts. Association member surveys have found that builders are “cautiously optimistic” about single-family home sales in the coming months, Crowe said.