Housing starts in the U.S. fell 1.1 percent from June to July but remain up 21.5 percent year-over-year as construction of structures with five or more units increased 9.6 percent (up 30.1 percent year-over-year) while single-family home starts fell 6.5 percent (up 17.0 percent year-over-year).
Single-family housing starts peaked at 170,400 in May of 2005 and measured 158,000 that July versus 49,500 last month. Starts for structures with five or more units which peaked at 87,200 in May of 1973 and measured 75,600 that July were 20,800 last month.
Total housing starts which measured 71,700 in July have averaged 122,700 a month since 1959, hitting 227,300 in early 2006 and peaking at 249,400 in early 1972.
On a year-over-year basis, permit activity to start construction was up 29.5 percent in July with applications for multi-family housing up 47.3 percent, up 23.0 percent for single-family homes.
In the west, starts were up 48.1 percent year-over-year, up 26.1 percent for single-family homes while permit activity was up 53.8 percent, up 44.6 percent for single-family homes.
∙ New Residential Construction: June 2012 [doc.gov]
∙ U.S. Housing Starts Up 23.6% Year-Over-Year But Half Historic Pace [SocketSite]