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Zillow Research

June Housing Starts: Permits and Starts Down

Housing starts and permits fell back in June, following strong May numbers.

  • Housing starts increased to 1.43 million (SAAR) in June, down 8% from revised May 2023 figures and down 8.1% from June 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 
  • Single family housing starts increased to 0.94 million (SAAR) in June, down 7% from May.
  • Housing permits issued in June were down 3.7% from May and down 15.3% from a year ago, to 1.44 million (SAAR). 
  • 1.48 million (SAAR) homes were completed in June, down 3.3% from May and up 5.5% year-over-year.

What happened: Housing starts and permits fell back in June, following strong May numbers.

What Zillow Senior Economist Nicole Bachaud thinks: While homebuilders are remaining confident in the market with overall sentiment increasing again in June, the new construction market remains a rocky landscape. Increasing costs and labor shortages are still impacting builders’ ability to meet the demand for new housing. While completions are still higher than a year ago, housing permits and starts are dropping back from both this time last year and from last month. This decline may be a response to the slight drop in homebuilder sentiment regarding single-family sales in the next six months with mortgage rates staying elevated, despite headline gains to sentiment. Amid uncertainty, future building activity is pulling back – but is still remaining elevated from pre-pandemic levels. This comes at a time when existing homeowners are unwilling or unable to sell, severely shrinking the available pool of homes, making new home inventory even more important to buyers who are desperate 

June Housing Starts: Permits and Starts Down