Confirming the recent strength in economic data, today the Commerce Department reported that housing starts jumped to 1,226k up from a revised 1,102k in the prior month, and above the 1,188K estimate, driven by a 54% surge in multi-family units, which rose from last month’s disappointing 271K to 417K in December, returning to the trending observed in past years.
On a percentage bases, starts rose 11.3% in December sequentially, after falling 16.5% the prior month. Offsetting the spike in multifamily starts, single family starts fell to 795k from 828K the month before. This was the lowest print since September.
Offsetting the strong starts number, and in somewhat of a mirror image to the starts numbers, building permits fell modestly to 1,210k vs 1,212k in Nov.; missing estimates of a 1,225k print. Permits fell 0.2% in Dec. after falling 3.8% the prior month.
Looking at the components, single-family permits jumped to 817K, the highest print since 2007, while multi-family permits dipped once again, declining from 395K, to 355K, the lowest since March of 2016, suggesting that future rental inflation may accelerate as builders are once again shifting their attention to single-family units.
via http://ift.tt/2jrUG81 Tyler Durden