Housing starts fell 6.8% to 1.238 million units in July, according to Reuters. Economists had expected starts to fall to a rate of 1.330 million units.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, fell 4% to 1.396 million units in July.
Single-family housing starts fell 14.2% to a rate of 851,000 units, dropping to a 16-month low. Multifamily starts rose 11.7% to a rate of 363,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes fell 0.1% to a rate of 938,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes fell 12.4% to a rate of 408,000 units.
The number of houses approved for construction that were yet to be started increased 2.6% to 279,000 units.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has continued to pull back after reaching 7.22% in May; it has since dropped to 6.45%.
