US housing starts for July 1168K vs. 1260K expected.

Building permits 1311K vs. 1310K expected

The Housing starts came in a bit lower than expectations and permits came in as expected.

• housing starts 1168K versus 1260K expected. The prior month was revised lower to 1158K from 1173K
• building permits came in at 1311K versus 1310K. The prior month was revised to 1292K from 1273K originally reported last month
• July single-family starts with 0.9%. Multi family starts rose 0.7%
• US July single-family permits rose 1.9%; multi family permits +0.7%
• The single-family starts pace is 862K. That is down from 948K in November 2017. There is a slowing of that pace
• house prices have increased 6% on an annual basis
• 30 year fixed mortgage rate has risen about 60 basis points this year to an average of 4.59%. That has slowed the market.