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August 18, 2021US HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS, JULY 2021 With July reference month results, year-to-date (Jan-Jul 21 vs Jan-Jul 20) are in part showing the rebounds in economic activity from the unprecedented declines observed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
BUILDING PERMITS
According to the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, residential building permits increased 2.6% from the revised June estimate of 1,594,000 permits to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,635,000 permits in July 2021.
US residential building permits increased 6.0% over the same month last year. By July 2020, permits had largely recovered from the initial declines experienced during the onset of the pandemic. Permits increased for all structure types, as permits for single unit structures increased 5.5%, those with 2 to 4 units increased 12.2%, and permits for structures with 5 units or more increased 6.4%.
From January to July 2021, residential permits were up 25.3%, with increases for single unit structures (+30.1%), those with 2 to 4 units (+21.9%) and structures with 5 or more units (+16.1%) when compared to the same period in 2020.
HOUSING STARTS
In July 2021, US housing starts declined 7.0% compared to the revised June estimate of 1,650,000, to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,534,000 units.
US housing starts increased 2.5% over July 2020. Starts for single unit structures were up 11.7% while starts for structures with 5 or more units declined 16.3%.
Year to date, US housing starts are up 20.4% compared to Jan-Jul 2020, with increased starts for single unit (+26.2%) and structures with 5 or more units (+7.9%).
Source: US Census Bureau New Residential Construction
US Census Bureau - retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Monthly data
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