Updated: 18-Jun-25 09:27 ET
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Updated: 18-Jun-25 09:27 ET |
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Highlights
- Housing starts declined 9.8% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.256 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.356 million).
- Building permits declined 2.0% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.393 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.411 million).
Key Factors
- The change in single-unit starts by region: Northeast (-9.9%); Midwest (+1.4%); South (-1.7%); and West (+10.2%).
- The change in single-unit permits by region: Northeast (-3.3%); Midwest (0.0%); South (-2.4%); and West (-5.1%).
- Multi-unit starts declined 29.7% month-over-month, while multi-unit permits decreased 0.8% month-over-month.
- The number of units under construction at the end of the period decreased 1.4% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.375 million.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that housing starts are weak, sitting at their lowest level since May 2020; moreover, a 2.7% month-over-month decline in single-unit permits doesn't connote an encouraging outlook for starts.
Category |
MAY |
APR |
MAR |
FEB |
JAN |
Starts |
1256K |
1392K |
1355K |
1490K |
1358K |
1 Unit |
924K |
920K |
948K |
1098K |
1000K |
Multi Units |
332K |
472K |
407K |
392K |
358K |
Permits |
1393K |
1422K |
1481K |
1454K |
1460K |