Briefing.com: Housing Starts

Updated: 19-Jun-18 09:17 ET

May Housing Starts

Updated: 19-Jun-18 09:17 ET

Highlights

Housing starts increased 5.0% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.350 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.323 million) while building permits declined 4.6% to 1.301 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.343 million).

Key Factors

Permits for single-family homes were up 11.8% in the Northeast, down 1.6% in the Midwest, down 3.3% in the South (the nation's largest housing market); and down 3.3% in the West
Single-family starts increased 3.9% in May, led by a 10.2% increase in the Northeast and a 44.4% surge in the Midwest; however, they declined 3.5% in the South and 0.5% in the West. Multi-unit starts increased 7.5%.
The number of units under construction at the end of the period was 1.127 million, which left the second quarter average 0.5% above the first quarter average and factoring as a positive input for Q2 GDP forecasts

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that permits -- a leading indicator -- declined for both single-family units (-2.2%) and multi-unit dwellings (-8.8%), suggesting there might not be follow-on strength for badly needed single-family homes in June.