New home construction saw a slower pace last month.
The Commerce Department says construction of single-family homes and apartments dropped by 1.1 percent in July compared to June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 746,000.
June had seen the fastest pace since October 2008.
As for applications for building permits, they rose to their highest level in July since August 2008.
Currently, the rate of construction and the level of permits remain only about half the 1.5 million annual rate considered to be healthy.
