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July Single-Family Housing Starts the Best in 25 Years

Housing starts in July climbed for a third consecutive month, rising 1.5% above June’s level to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.87 million units, the Commerce Department reported.

“It’s shaping up to be a very busy summer for home builders,” said NAHB President Kent Conine. “Favorable interest rates, signs of an improving economy, healthy gains in home values and strong household formations are all fueling demand for new homes, and builders are responding to the times.”

Despite their recent upward movement, NAHB Chief Econmist David Seiders noted that mortgage interest rates remain low and they are helping to energize the marketplace.

“Builder confidence in the market for single-family homes hasn’t skipped a beat,” he said.

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Housing helped to boost economic growth in this year’s first half, Seiders added, “and it now appears that housing will provide solid support to the GDP in the third quarter as well.”

Single-family starts, which were solely responsible for the rise in new home construction activity in August, rose nearly 2% during the month, reaching an annual rate of 1.52 million units, their loftiest level in 25 years.

Multifamily housing starts in July occurred at a more dawdling pace, dropping a slight 0.6% to an annual rate of 351,000 units.

Housing starts last month rose 19% in the Northeast, 5.7% in the Midwest and 5.6% in the South. The West posted a nearly 14% decline following a big-run up in June.

Seiders said that housing construction is now poised to surpass last year’s 1.7 million starts.

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