Updated: 16-Jun-22 09:28 ET
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Updated: 16-Jun-22 09:28 ET |
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Highlights
- Housing starts declined 14.4% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.549 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.730 million).
- Building permits -- a leading indicator -- declined 7.0% month-over-month to 1.695 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.800 million).
Key Factors
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The change in single-unit starts by region: Northeast (+5.5%); Midwest (-5.9%); South (-10.0%); and West (-11.8%).
- The change in single-unit permits by region: Northeast (-1.6%), Midwest (-2.3%); South (-7.3%); and West (-3.3%).
- Multi-unit starts decreased 23.7% month-over-month while multi-unit permits decreased 9.4% month-over-month.
- The number of units under construction at the end of the period increased 0.4% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.665 million. That left the Q2 average 4.7% above the Q1 average, so it will be accounted for as a positive input in Q2 GDP forecasts.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report was the broad-based softness in single-family starts and permits. To that end, starts declined month-over-month in three of the four geographic regions while permits declined in all regions with the largest region -- the South -- seeing the largest decline in permits.
Category |
MAY |
APR |
MAR |
FEB |
JAN |
Starts |
1549K |
1810K |
1716K |
1777K |
1666K |
1 Unit |
1051K |
1157K |
1191K |
1213K |
1157K |
Multi Units |
498K |
653K |
525K |
564K |
509K |
Permits |
1695K |
1823K |
1879K |
1857K |
1841K |