Dive summary:

• Economists had been expecting housing starts and building permits in June to grow from May's annual rates, but those predictions fell flat – actually, less than flat – as both statistics came in with significantly negative changes, starts falling off 9.9% and building permits dropping 7.5%.
• The numbers reflect all housing, however, and the story was very different between multifamily and single-family units: Taken separately, single-family starts were down 0.8% and single-family permits rose 0.1%.
• Looking at the actual numbers, economists said they were understandable because multifamily has been charging hard since well before single-family began to recover and may be getting ahead of itself in some markets, while single-family is facing less weighty issues in not-yet-restored material supplies and caution about getting too enthusiastic too quickly.

From the article:

For many economists, the steady rise of the single-unit permits in recent months, which account for the bulk of the market, is a better indicator of housing industry health. ...