Building Permits
Although new home inventory actually dropped 2,000 units in July, the slowing sales pace still managed to push the national supply higher by 1.1 months. At July's rate of sales, the nation's new home inventory would be exhausted in just about 9 months.
Sometimes, you need to look deeper than the headlines to get the news that matters. This basic truth's latest example comes from the July Housing Starts data, as published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high. It's no wonder home builders are confused.