In June, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reported a 3% increase in housing starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million units, driven by a surge in multifamily construction activity.
The volatile multifamily sector saw an impressive rise of 19.6%, while single-family starts experienced a slight decline of 2.2%. A similar trend was observed for permits for residential construction, with an overall increase of 3.4% to an annualized rate of 1.45 million units but single-family permits decreasing by 2/3%.
On the other hand, multifamily completions reached their fastest pace since May of1986 at a seasonally adjusted annual rateof673000unitsinJune.TheNationalAssociationofHomeBuilders also noted that although there has been strong completion activity for apartments recently,the numberofmultifamilyunitsunderconstructioncontinuestodeclineby1/6%,withanannualizedcountof895000unitsandadropoff11/4%fromlastyear’sfigures.
