Dwelling Difference

While June housing starts were up 8.3% M-o-M, they were up only 2.1% Y-o-Y, and 6.0% YTD. More interestingly, YTD multifamily starts are flat, while single-family starts are up 10.75%, and they are more costly than multifamily. The 10.75% rise means 90,000 new single-family starts in 2017. At an average of $400,000/house, that’ll boost GDP by 0.2%/year, but only so long as new home production rises by an extra 90,000/year.