The Commerce Department reports that June home building declined to the slowest rate in a year and a half. The Northeast reportedly experienced a decline in single-family housing starts of 32.8%. Overall, the country saw a 5.4% decline in housing starts. The rate comes in at a unit pace of 1.850 million for the month, below the predicted 1.900 million. This is the fourth fall in 5 months. It is the slowest rate since November of 2004, when there was a 6.5% decline to an annual pace of 1.486 million units. Builder confidence is on the decline, partly due to the 4.3% decline in permits for future housing starts. This is the slowest rate for future starts since May 2003. The National Association of Home Builders reports that home builder confidence for July is at the lowest point in over 14 years. The score stands at 39 out of 100. Total housing starts were down by 10.2% in the West, while total permits were down by 7.6%. Single-family starts in the West decreased by 5.9%. The South saw new starts decline 4.0%, and housing permits fall 5.3%. The Midwest saw a slight decline in housing permits, but total housing starts were up 3.0%. In the Northeast, the single-family housing starts fell 32.8%, while groundbreaking decreased 11.5%. Permits in the Northeast increased by 6.1%, partly due to the result of multi-family plans, as single-family plans fell by 3.9% for June. |
