Housing Starts: Slight Decline As Rates Rose

Bottom Line:  Housing starts fell only slightly in April, even as mortgage rates continued to rise. That said, single-family housing starts fell more than the headline suggested as multi-family starts rose for the second month in a row, hitting new record levels. A massive multi-family building boom in the South continued, despite higher mortgage rates. But the trend in single-family starts has plateaued with higher mortgage rates. That said, even in single-family, the overall level of activity remains remarkably robust given the rate move. Finally, permits were lower again, suggesting activity has likely slowed further this month and will likely continue to slow modestly in the coming months.Total US Annualized Housing Starts were nearly unchanged, DOWN 4k to 1.72M, BELOW the 3-Month average of 1.74M, BELOW the 6-Month average of 1.73M but 219k ABOVE the year-ago level.Single-Family Housing Starts FELL 87k to 1.1M, BELOW the 3-Month average of 1.17M, BELOW the 6-Month average of 1.18M but 39k ABOVE the year-ago level.

Multi-Family Housing Starts ROSE 88k to 612k, ABOVE the 3-Month average of 556k, ABOVE the 6-Month average of 531.5k and 182k ABOVE the year-ago level.

Total Building Permits FELL 60k to 1.82M, BELOW the 3-Month average of 1.85M, BELOW the 6-Month average of 1.84M but 54k ABOVE the year-ago level.Single-Family Permits FELL 53k to 1.11M, BELOW the 3-Month average of 1.16M, BELOW the 6-Month average of 1.15M and 42k BELOW the year-ago level.