The Commerce Department reported on Friday the building permits issued for privately owned housing units climbed by 8.4 percent m-o-m in July (the largest advance since June 2017) to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.336 million, while housing starts fell by 4.0 percent m-o-m to an annual rate of 1.191 million.

Economists had forecast housing starts decreasing by 1.7 percent m-o-m last month and building permits surging by 3.1 percent m-o-m.

Data for June was revised down to show homebuilding declining to a pace of 1.241 million units, instead of falling to a rate of 1.253 million units as previously reported.

According to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, rose 1.8 percent m-o-m at 838,000 in July (the highest level in eight months), while approvals for the multi-family homes segment surged 21.8 percent m-o-m to a 498,000 unit-rate.

In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes rose 1.3 percent m-o-m to a rate of 876,000 units in July (the highest level in six months), while housing starts for the multi-family tumbled 16.2 percent m-o-m to a 315,000-unit pace.