SURPRISING STARTS

December housing starts were a surprisingly strong 1.499 million units seasonally adjusted and annualized, up 51.3% M-o-M. But three things make this number suspect. First, two-thirds of the rise came in the South where hurricanes Helene and Milton did extensive damage. Second, multifamily starts soared 61.5% M-o-M, single-family rose a pedestrian 3.5% M-o-M. Finally, weather in December averaged 38F, not the usual 32F, a one standard deviation event. One-off.