U.S. Housing Starts Plunge Much More Than Expected In July

August 18, 2026 — 08:35 am EDT

Written by RTTNews.com for RTTNews

(RTTNews) - New residential construction in the U.S. plummeted by much more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts nosedived by 12.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.239 million in July after skyrocketing by 19.7 percent to a revised rate of 1.415 million in June.

Economists had expected housing starts to plunge by 5.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.350 million from the 1.427 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said building permits surged by 5.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.443 million in July after tumbling by 2.6 percent to a revised rate of 1.374 million in June.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected rise by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.370 million from the 1.367 million originally reported for the previous month.

RTTNews

Founded in the late 1990s by Andrew Mariathasan in New York, with the goal of covering Wall Street for a new generation of investors, RTTNews has expanded steadily over the years to become a trusted provider of content for a wide array of subjects across several platforms. RTT's Financial Newswire is relied upon by some of the world's largest financial institutions, including banks, brokerages, trading platforms and financial exchanges.

U.S. Housing Starts Plunge Much More Than Expected In July

Tags

Latest Articles