The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Census Bureau.

NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN JULY 2005

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for July 2005:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,167,000.

This is 1.6 percent above the revised June rate of 2,132,000 and is 2.5 percent above the July 2004 estimate of 2,114,000.

Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 1,686,000; this is 2.0 percent above the June figure of 1,653,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 381,000 in July.

HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,042,000. This is 0.1 percent below the revised June estimate of 2,045,000, but is 2.8 percent above the July 2004 rate of 1,986,000.

Single-family housing starts in July 2005 were at a rate of 1,711,000; this is 0.5 percent above the June figure of 1,703,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 289,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,833,000. This is 6.3 percent below the revised June estimate of 1,956,000 and is 2.9 percent below the July 2004 rate of 1,888,000.

Single-family housing completions in July 2005 were at a rate of 1,609,000; this is 3.6 percent below the June figure of 1,669,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 189,000.

New Residential Construction data for August 2005 will be released on Tuesday, September 20, 2005, at 8:30 A.M. EDT.

The unedited copy of the news release is attached below. For the full transcript please visit the site

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm