Housing starts cool 2.5% in July

===Housing starts cool 2.5 percent in July===

Starts in new-home construction dropped 2.5 percent in July, according to figures released by the Commerce Department, continuing the orderly cool down of the housing market. Housing starts declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.795 million units. This was 13.3 percent below the peak pace of a year ago when activity in the housing market was operating at unsustainable levels. This is the fifth consecutive decline in housing starts and the lowest pace since November 2004.

Single-family housing starts were down 2.3 percent for the month to a pace of 1.452 million units, a 16.6 percent drop from the July 2005 pace. Multifamily housing construction was down 3.4 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted pace of 343,000 units.

Issuance of total building permits decreased 6.5 percent in July to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 1.747 million units, 20.8 percent below the pace of a year ago. Single-family permit issuance was down 6.1 percent on a national basis to a pace of 1.318 million units for the month, reflecting declines in all regions of the country. The pace of multifamily permit issuance was down 7.7 percent to 429,000 units. This pace was 11.4 percent below a year earlier.

Regionally, housing starts generally mirrored the national decline as three of four regions reported decreases for the month. Construction of new homes and apartments was down 2.5 percent in the South and 2.9 percent in the West. The decline in the Northeast was deeper at 7.0 percent. In the Midwest, housing starts rebounded a slight 0.7 percent for the month, but were 16.6 percent below July of last year.