Housing starts slip in July

Housing starts took a step backward in July, both on a monthly and a yearly basis.

Total U.S. housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,155,000 last month, down 4.8% over June and down 5.6% over July 2016.

June's rate was also revised down to 1,213,000, compared to the 1,215,000 estimate initially reported. And to put things in perspective, July's starts are down in comparison to this figure, which jumped ahead more than 8% between May and June.

Single-family starts came in at 856,000 last month, down 0.5% from June's figure of 860,000 (up from the 849,000 initially estimated).

As for what's coming down the pipeline: building permits clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,223,000, down 4.1% from June, but up 4.1% from July 2016. Single-family authorizations stayed flat month-over-month at 811,000.

Regionally, declines occurred around the country except for in the South, which managed to eke out a 0.6% increase in total starts (and a 2.0% increase in single-family starts).

The Northeast also pulled in 9.8% more single-family starts, but was dragged down by the multi-family market to a total decline of 15.7%.