Briefing.com: Housing Starts

Updated: 17-Jul-19 09:20 ET

June Housing Starts

Updated: 17-Jul-19 09:20 ET

Highlights

Housing starts declined 0.9% m/m in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.253 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.270 million) while building permits declined 6.1% m/m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.220 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.300 million).
In both cases, the weakness was driven by multi-unit dwellings. Single-family starts were actually up 3.5% m/m to 847,000 while single-family permits increased 0.4% m/m.

Key Factors

Permits for multi-unit dwellings declined 16.8% m/m in June, led by a 20.7% decline in dwellings with five or more units.
Starts for multi-unit dwellings declined 9.4% m/m in June.
By region, single-family starts in June were down 6.1% in the Northeast, up 8.0% in the Midwest, up 1.1% in the South, and up 9.8% in the West.
The number of units under construction at the end of the period stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.135 million. That left the second quarter average at 1.129 million, which is 1.7% below the first quarter average and a negative input for Q2 GDP forecasts.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that the single-family supply dynamic will remain a limiting issue for the overall housing market as single-family starts were down 0.8% yr/yr while single-family permits were down 4.7% yr/yr.