{"id":1694,"date":"2025-08-20T11:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2025-08-26T14:11:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:11:33","slug":"single-family-starts-were-higher-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=1694","title":{"rendered":"Single-Family Starts Were Higher in July \u2014 But Don\u2019t Let That Fool You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to an announcement the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB<\/a>) made on August 19 \u2013 citing a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau \u2013 single-family housing starts experienced a modest gain last month. Before you break out the champagne flutes, there are other factors you should know: builders maintain that affordability continues to be an obstacle in completing home sales, and labor shortages and increased construction costs are further hampering momentum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While overall housing starts increased 5.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units, according to that recently released report, a significant portion of that gain can be attributed to strength in the multifamily sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, when you read the fine print: the July reading of 1.43 million starts is the number of housing units builders would begin if<\/em> development kept this pace for the next 12 months \u2014 and so far, consistency hasn\u2019t been a strong suit this year. According to the NAHB, within that overall number of starts, single-family increased 2.8% to a 939,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, but is down 4.2% on a year-to-date basis. The multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 9.9% to an annualized 489,000 pace, the NAHB stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSingle-family production continues to operate at reduced levels due to ongoing housing affordability challenges, including persistently high mortgage rates, the skilled labor shortage and excessive regulatory costs,\u201d said Buddy Hughes, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder and developer from Lexington, N.C. \u201cThese headwinds were reflected in our latest builder survey, which indicates that affordability is the top challenge to the housing market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe slowdown in single-family home building has narrowed the home building pipeline,\u201d said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. \u201cThere are currently 621,000 single-family homes under construction, down 1% in July and 3.7% lower than a year ago. This is the lowest level since early 2021 as builders pull back on supply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a regional and year-to-date basis, combined single-family and multifamily starts were reported as 10.2% higher in the Northeast, 17.7% higher in the Midwest, 2.4% lower in the South and 0.5% lower in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while overall permits decreased 2.8% to a 1.35-million-unit annualized rate in July, single-family permits increased 0.5% to an 870,000-unit rate \u2014 but are down 5.8% on a year-to-date basis. Similarly, multifamily permits decreased 8.2% to a 484,000 pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business consultant David Gordon, founder of Channel Marketing Group and publisher of Electrical Trends<\/a><\/em> and US Lighting Trends<\/a><\/em>, imparted some advice for lighting distributors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you are a showroom or an electrical distributor with a focus on the residential market, growth will come from identifying ways to sell upgrades through your builder, if they are willing. This means getting to the buyer so that they want the functionality of a product, the aesthetic of the item, or the technology (smart home, lighting controls, shades, landscape lighting, additional outlets in eaves, etc.),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting showrooms have the opportunity to launch what Gordon calls, \u201ca post-move-in campaign\u201d to help with lighting fixture upgrade opportunities since the lighting budget is often one of the first areas to get downsized in a builder package. \u201cMaybe [you reach out to homeowners] right after move-in, or maybe it is 6-12 months after. This can be more of a direct marketing\/telemarketing effort and doing some \u2018show and tell,\u2019\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For distributors who haven\u2019t worked heavily with builders before \u2013 perhaps interior designers and consumers are their forte \u2013 this may be the time to become better aligned with a local custom builder. \u201cHow can you provide additional value through SPAs, storage, JIT shipping, working with their preferred contractor, and helping the contractor buy better or more conveniently (perhaps kitted by home and a \u201cone-click\u201d order on your website)?,\u201d Gordon suggested, adding, \u201cTarget your opportunities and be hyper-focused and agile. If interest rates decline, there could be localized growth spurts. If your market gains a new major employer, that could spur residential growth. Be vigilant, be creative, but also be lean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Personal Income Has Increased, Why Aren\u2019t Consumers Spending More on Lighting?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to an announcement the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) made on August 19 \u2013 citing a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau \u2013 single-family housing starts experienced a modest gain last month. Before you break out the champagne flutes, there are other factors you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":172,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[526,525,157],"class_list":["post-1694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-home-builders","tag-housing-starts","tag-nahb"],"yoast_head":"\nSingle-Family Starts Were Higher in July \u2014 But Don\u2019t Let That Fool You - Lighting News Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The NAHB reported single-family housing starts had a modest gain last month, but there are still headwinds facing the lighting industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=1694\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Single-Family Starts Were Higher in July \u2014 But Don\u2019t Let That Fool You - 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