- Prior was 1.427m (revised to 1.415m)
- Building permits 1.443m vs 1.370m expected
- Prior was 1.374m
US housing data for July was mixed, with building permits strengthening while housing starts and completions declined sharply. The divergence suggests that planned construction remains relatively good, but actual building activity weakened during the month.
Building permits rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.443 million, up 5.0% from June and 3.1% from July 2025. Single-family permits increased 2.5% m/m to 894,000, while permits for buildings with five units or more reached 490,000.
However, housing starts fell significantly. Starts dropped to an annualized rate of 1.239 million, down 12.4% from June and 13.5% y/y. Single-family starts declined 9.9% from June to 808,000, while starts in buildings with five or more units stood at 421,000.
Housing completions also weakened, falling to an annualized rate of 1.212 million, down 9.1% m/m and 16.8% from July 2025. Single-family completions declined 5.8% from June to 878,000.
Permits provided a positive signal for future construction, while starts and completions showed a notable deterioration in current activity.
This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.