Housing starts rise 4.8% in June, as supply still lags demand

Source: MarektWatch (Dow Jones)

Housing starts rise 4.8% in June, as supply still lags demand

Published: July 19, 2016 10:12 a.m. ET

New-home construction moves forward in fits and starts but remains well below the level of demand.

By Andrea Riquier

Housing starts jumped in June but from downwardly-revised levels earlier in the year, pointing to a market for newly-constructed homes that continues to grind forward slowly and steadily.

Starts were up 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.19 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a 1.17 million pace. But May figures, originally reported as 1.16 million, were revised down to 1.14 million.

Permits, which foreshadow starts in the future, rose 1.5% to an annualized 1.15 million.

Also read: Rents continue to surge, prompting new affordability ideas

For the second quarter, starts are averaging a 1.16 million rate, up fractionally from the 1.15 million pace averaged in the first quarter. But permits are running at the same 1.14 million pace. ... Single-family starts, which are tracked as a signal on the health of the market for home purchases, jumped 4.4% in June to a 778,000 pace, but are down about 3.6% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year.


Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-rise-48-to-annual-119-million-pace-in-june-2016-07-19