June housing starts rise 8.3%; permits up 7.4%

WASHINGTON – The pace of housing starts rose by 8.3% to a 1.215 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in June, well above expectations for a rebound to a 1.150 million pace, data reported by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.

There were upward revisions to the pace of starts in May to 1.122 million, meanwhile there were downward revisions to April, causing it to fall to a rate of 1.154 million starts.

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Housing starts of single-family homes rose by 6.3% in June after a 2.9% drop in the previous month. Starts of multi-family homes rose 13.3%, based on an MNI calculation.

The pace of unadjusted starts stands 4.7% above its year ago level, suggesting home building has increased. However, the NAHB index for June and a downward revision to May released on Tuesday seemed to suggest builders confidence had lowered in recent months.

Building permits rose 7.4% to 1.254 million, the highest percent change since November 2015. Both single-family and multi-family permits increased, with multi-family rebounding to 13.9% after a 10.4% decline in May.

Through the second quarter, starts have averaged 1.164 million, lower than the 1.238 million average in the first quarter. Permits have averaged 1.217 million through the second quarter, down from 1.260 million in the first quarter, suggesting that home building could cause smaller growth for second quarter GDP.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
Economic indicators Housing
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