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July housing starts drop 12.4% as completions also slow
Permits rose 5% to a 1.443 million annual pace, even as starts fell to 1.239 million and housing completions slipped to 1.212 million.
Housing starts cooled sharply in July, with U.S. Census Bureau data released alongside HUD showing total new residential construction fell 12.4% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.239 million units. The July pace was also 13.5% lower than a year earlier, when starts totaled 1.432 million.
Single-family starts dropped to an annual rate of 808,000, down 12.4% from June and 15.7% year over year. Starts for buildings with five or more units declined to 421,000, down 7.1% from July 2025.
The slowdown extended to supply coming online, as total housing completions fell 9.1% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.212 million units, 16.8% below July 2025. Single-family completions decreased to 878,000, while multifamily completions in five-plus unit buildings fell 25.6% year over year to 329,000.
Building permits, a forward-looking indicator, moved in the opposite direction. Total permits rose 5% in July to a 1.443 million annual pace, with single-family authorizations up 1.1% year over year to 894,000 and multifamily permits for five-plus units increasing 9.4% to 490,000, according to HousingWire.