Residential construction slowed in July. Both the rate of permitting and of housing starts were down from the prior month and starts were the worst in more than four years. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said overall starts declined 6.8 percent from June levels and, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.238 million, were 16.0 percent lower than in July 2023. Single-family starts dropped by 14.1 percent to a rate of 851,000, a 14.8 percent annual decrease. Multifamily starts, at the rate of 363,000, represented an 11.7 percent increase from the prior month but a 21.8 percent year-over-year decline. On a non-adjusted basis, construction started on 113,000 residential units in July, 79,800 of which were single-family dwellings. In June, the corresponding numbers were 124,000 and 94,400. [housingchartall] Permitting was only slightly better. They were issued at an annual rate of 1.396 million during the month, down from 1.454 million in June. That was a -4.0 percent change for the month and -7.0 percent on an annual basis. Single-family permits were virtually unchanged from the previous month at 7938,000 and 1.6 percent lower than the same period last year while permits for construction in buildings of five or more units dropped to 408,000 from 466,000. This is 12.4 and 18.2 percent lower than in the two earlier periods. On an unadjusted basis, permits were issued for 125,600 units, including 85,600 single-family houses. Both numbers were nearly identical to those in June. [housingpermitschart]