New Home Construction | Trade

After hitting a nine-month low in June, new home construction bounced back in July. Housing Starts improved to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.168 million units, up 0.9%from June's downwardly revised estimate of 1.158 million. However, from July 2017, Housing Starts were down 1.4%, likely due to higher construction costs for materials, and shortages of land and labor this year. While the Midwest and South saw increases, Starts declined in the West and Northeast. 

Building Permits, a sign of future construction, had better results in July, increasing 1.5% from June and up 4.2% from a year ago. 

Optimism that trade tensions between the U.S. and China are easing helped Stocks rebound in early trading. Continued uncertainty overseas in Turkey also has the potential to increase market volatility.