Live Updates > Live Update Details
2026-07-17 20:34:17
[US Housing Starts Surge 19% in June, But Building Permits Unexpectedly Decline, Raising Questions about Future Momentum] ⑴ US residential construction activity showed a stark divergence in June, with housing starts surging approximately 19% month-over-month to an annualized total of 1.427 million units. Multi-family housing starts jumped over 70% to 532,000 units, becoming the dominant driver of the overall figure. ⑵ However, building permits, representing future construction intentions, declined 3% month-over-month to 1.367 million units, below the market consensus of 1.4 million units. Single-family permits fell by about 2.4%, and multi-family permits also decreased by over 4%, indicating that the sustainability of the current construction boom is facing challenges. ⑶ From a technical perspective, the stark contrast between the surge in starts and the decline in permits suggests that the former reflects the rush by builders to complete existing projects, while the latter indicates that changes in financing costs and demand expectations are suppressing new project approvals. (4) Given the previous rising expectations of a Fed rate hike, if subsequent permitting data continues to weaken, the contribution of residential investment to the economy in the third quarter may diminish marginally, and the market's profit outlook for the real estate sector will be revised accordingly.
