Housing starts slip 1.5% in July to 604,000 annually

Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000, 1.5 percent below the revised June estimate of 613,000, but 9.8 percent above the July 2010 rate of 550,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 425,000, 4.9 percent below the revised June figure of 447,000.

Building permit numbers were also down in July. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 597,000, 3.2 percent below the revised June rate of 617,000.

For more on the July numbers, visit the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction landing page and click “Current Press Release.”