Privately owned housing starts and permits both trended upward in June, but the metrics are still below 2019 levels, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Privately owned housing starts saw a massive month-t0-month jump, climbing 17.3 percent from May to June, with single-family housing starts up 17.2 percent. Housing starts were still down 4 percent, year-over-year, coming in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units.
“Builders are clearly reading the market and understand the need for new homes to match overwhelming demand,” Bill Banfield, Quicken Loans‘ executive vice president of capital markets, said in a statement.
“While other segments of the economy may be stuttering, the housing market continues to be a bastion of hope,” Banfield added. “Today’s report indicates builders are confident consumers will purchase new homes in this era of rock-bottom mortgage rates, despite the high unemployment numbers and other negative economic reports.”
Privately owned housing units authorized by permits were reported at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million, which was a 2.1 percent month-over-month increase, but down 2.5 percent year over year.
Privately owned housing completions were up 4.3 percent month over month and 5.1 percent year over year. Single-family housing completions saw a particularly high jump, climbing 9.6 percent from May to June.
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