{"id":8576,"date":"2022-08-24T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realtyhop.com\/blog\/?p=8576"},"modified":"2022-08-24T09:00:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T13:00:35","slug":"new-residential-construction-july-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realtyhop.com\/blog\/new-residential-construction-july-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"New Housing Starts Declined in July, Another Sign of a Cooling Housing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
The American housing market has cooled down substantially over the course of 2022, with demand for homebuying <\/span>down 20%<\/span><\/a> compared to a year ago. The decline in homebuying demand is mostly a consequence of rising sales prices and <\/span>interest rates<\/span><\/a> that have made purchasing a house unaffordable for a growing number of Americans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mortgage demand is now at a 22-year low after<\/span> mortgage applications recently fell<\/span><\/a> to levels not seen since the turn of the century. Developers have taken note of the <\/span>declining mortgage demand<\/span><\/a>, as they have also started to pull back on new residential development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In another sign that the demand for purchasing a home is cooling down, <\/span>U.S. Census data<\/span><\/a> found that new housing starts declined between June and July by more than what economists predicted. Overall, housing starts fell from 1,599,000 in June to a seasonally-adjusted 1,446,000 in July, a 9.6% monthly decline. Single-family housing starts declined by 10.1%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n New multi-family construction starts, defined as homes in buildings with five or more residential units, decreased from 568,000 in June to 514,000 in July, a 9.5%\u00a0 monthly decline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Total construction starts were<\/span> actually up by 48% in July<\/span><\/a>, but only because of big spikes in infrastructure and manufacturing construction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. Census also tracks monthly building permit and housing completion data, both of which only moved much more modestly month-over-month. Building permits fell slightly from June to July, decreasing from 1,696,000 to 1,674,000 newly authorized units, a 1.3% decline. Single-family permits totaled 928,000, a 4.3% decline from June, while permits for multifamily units reached 693,000, a 4.0% increase from June\u2019s 666,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Housing completions totaled 1,424,000 in July, a 1.1% increase from June\u2019s 1,409,000. Single\u2010family housing completions fell by 0.8% in July, while multifamily completions increased 12.5%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Matt Klinger, building products research manager at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, told Bisnow that overall economic conditions also affect homebuyer demand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCancellation rates are spiking up over the past few months, sales are declining, and new housing starts are definitely cooling,\u201d <\/span>said Klinger.<\/span><\/a> \u201cThe Federal Reserve rate hike is definitely having an effect on builder sentiment \u2014 and consumer sentiment. Homeowners are concerned about the general economy right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n