New US housing starts and building permits unexpectedly fell in July, pulled down by steeper declines in multifamily units, a government report showed today.
The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 1 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 581,000 units, well below market expectations for 600,000 units. June's housing starts were revised up to 587,000 units from the previously reported 582,000 units.
Multifamily unit starts tumbled 13.3 per cent in July. However, groundbreaking for single family homes - the worst-hit part of the housing market, rose 1.7 per cent to an annual rate of 490,000 units, the highest since October.
Compared to July last year, housing starts dropped 37.7 per cent.
New building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, fell 1.8 per cent to 560,000 units in July. That compared to analysts' forecasts for 580,000 units. Compared to the same period a year-ago, building permits declined 39.4 per cent.
The inventory of total houses under construction fell to record low 609,000 in July, the department said, while the total number of permits authorised but not yet started also hit a record low at 102,300.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed US producer prices fell 0.9 percent versus a 1.8 per cent gain in June. Compared with the same period last year, producer prices were a record 6.8 per cent lower in July.
Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, edged 0.1 per cent lower in July compared with a forecast for a 0.1 per cent rise, and after a 0.5 per cent increase in June.
The core producer price index stood 2.6 per cent higher measured on a year-on-year basis, versus a forecast for a 2.8 per cent advance.
Reuters