Housing starts fell 12.4% in July to 1.239 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, rose 5% to 1.443 million units in July.
Single-family housing starts fell 9.9% to a rate of 808,000 units. Multifamily starts fell 16.8% to a rate of 421,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes rose 2.5% to a rate of 894,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes rose 9.4% to a rate of 490,000 units.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.77% during the week ending Aug. 7; it averaged 5.98% at the end of February.
