Housing Starts Beat, Building Permits Meet Forecast for May

Big Upward Revisions to Housing Starts for April and May Total 77K

The new residential construction report estimated new housing starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,269,000, beating the consensus forecast.

While new housing starts were down 0.9% (±12.9%) from the upwardly revised estimate of 1,281,000 for April, starts posted big upward revisions to both April and March totaling 77,000.

Starts are still 4.7% (±8.9%) below the May 2018 rate of 1,332,000.

Building permits were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,294,000, meeting the forecast and 0.3% (±1.3%) above the revised April rate of 1,290,000.

Housing completions in May came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,213,000. This is 9.5% (±13.7%) below the revised April estimate of 1,340,000 and is 2.8% (±9.1%) below the May 2018 rate of 1,248,000.

Single‐family housing completions came in at a rate of 890,000, which is 5.0% (±12.7%) below the revised April rate of 937,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 319,000 in May.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) came in at a solid 64 in June. Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family has held in the low-to mid-60s for the fifth straight month.