Housing completions, however, is up 5.6 per cent over June

The rate of privately-owned housing starts in the United States was down seven per cent in July to 1,534,000.

This is much lower than the revised June projection of 1,650,000 but 2.5 per cent higher than the July 2020 rate of 1,497,000. The number of single-family housing starts in July was 1,111,000, down 4.5 per cent from the revised June total of 1,163,000.

The rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 412,000 in July. At the same time, the rate of privately-owned housing completions was 1,391,000.

This is 5.6 per cent higher than the revised June estimate of 1,317,000 and 3.8 per cent higher than the July 2020 rate of 1,340,000. The rate of single-family housing completions in July was 954,000, up 3.6 per cent from the revised June figure of 921,000.

The rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 426,000 in July.

Building permits up 2.6%

In July, the rate of privately-owned housing units permitted by building permits was 1,635,000. This is 2.6 per cent higher than the revised June rate of 1,594,000.

It is also six per cent higher than the July 2020 rate of 1,542,000. In July, 1,048,000 single-family permits were issued, down 1.7 per cent from the revised June number of 1,066,000.

In July, 532,000 permits for units in buildings with five or more units were issued.