There were modest pullbacks in both the seasonally adjusted annual numbers of permits and housing starts in June. But it was only because of strong gains in the multifamily sector that construction figures, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, stayed even close to on track. Permits for residential construction ticked down 0.6 percent from their May level to an annual rate of 1.685 million units as permits for single-family houses fell 8.0 percent to 967,000 units. Multi-family permits grew by 13.1 percent. On a year-over-year basis, total permits were up 1.4 percent while those for single-family residences were down 11.4 percent. Multifamily construction authorizations jumped 27.8 percent on an annual basis. Analysts polled by Econoday were expecting a steeper reduction. The consensus estimate was an annual rate of 1.666 million permits. On a non-adjusted basis there were 155,800 permits issued in June, up from 149,000 in May. Single family permits dropped to 91,100 from 95,400. Year-to-date figures reflected those for the month Permits now total 895,600, up 2.2 percent from the first half of 2021 and multi-family permits are 17.1 percent higher. However, those for single-family homes, at 565,100, are down 4.4 percent from the first six months of 2021. Regional results were uneven. The annual rate of permitting increased 18.0 percent in the Northeast and 5.8 percent in the West while falling 15.7 percent and 2.1 percent in the Midwest and South, respectively. Single family permits were down in all four regions. The Northeast and West also posted annual increases (11.0 and 10.0 percent) while the other two regions were lower on that basis as well, 7.6 in the Midwest and 1.4 percent in the South.