Hapless Housing

Surprisingly, Y-o-Y housing starts fell 5.5% in May. YTD, single-family starts are up 7.4% but multi-family starts are down 2.8%. Continuing that theme, total starts are progressively weakening due to MF activity plunging from a +20% Y-o-Y increase in January to a -23% decline in May; single-family starts have been consistently 7% higher. This flat SF performance is disappointing given ever declining inventories, unsustainably large price increases, and low rates.