Housing Starts Drop 8.5% in June

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

ousing starts in the United States fell 8.5% in June to the lowest level in a year, and a sign of future construction also fell significantly, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Builders broke ground on homes at a 1.802 million-unit pace last month, compared with a revised 1.97 million rate in May, Commerce said.

Falling construction likely means less business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. Also, in the case of home construction, dry van freight can see a decrease in demand for the delivery of household appliances and furniture.

Housing starts were forecast to rise to a 1.99 million rate, Bloomberg reported. The June pace was the slowest since 1.748 million in May of last year.

Building permits, a sign of future construction, declined 8.2% to a 1.924 million pace.

By region, starts fell 16.5% in the West to 476,000 at an annual pace; 11.5% in the Midwest to 315,000; 3.5% in the Northeast to 165,000 at an annual rate; and 3.1% in South to 846,000.

Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital, told Bloomberg that wet weather in the South likely hindered construction activity.

11696