WASHINGTON–Housing starts and permits for new residential construction rose in June, but both declined significantly compared with the same month a year ago.
Further, the monthly increases in both starts and permits were for larger multi-unit dwellings. For single-family homes, starts and permits declined monthly as well as yearly.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that construction on all new housing reached 1,066,000 units on an annualized basis during the month. That was 9 percent higher than in May, but a 27 percent drop over the year.
Likewise, permits issued for new homes reached 1,091,000, or 11.5 percent above permits in May. Compared with June 2007, however, this month’s permits reflected a 40 percent decline.
For single-family homes, which appear to be the primary residential victims of the current downward housing spiral, the picture was glum both monthly and yearly. Starts for this category were down 5.2 percent over May, and down 43 percent over the year.
Permits for single-family homes were down 3.5 percent from May, and 40 percent from June 2007.