Happy Housing

November housing starts came in at an annualized rate of 1.365 million, up a strong 13.6% Y-o-Y. Single-family starts were up 16.7% Y-o-Y; multifamily was up 4.4% Y-o-Y. Despite these seemingly strong Y-o-Y numbers, YTD starts are up a scant 0.6%. This is because 2018 started well but ended badly as rates rose; this year, it’s the opposite. In 2020, housing will boost GDP by a small but pleasant 0.1%.