Housing Starts: Still Signs of Bottoming

Bottom Line:  Housing starts rose as expected in April, but there were modest negative revisions to prior data. Single- and multi-family starts edged higher, but there was a marked shift within multi-family permits -- 5+ unit developments slowed sharply after several quarters of strength, while 2-4 unit projects increased. Overall, we still see signs of bottoming in single-family housing while multi-family remains robust. Even with lower affordability, there's scope for new housing activity to bottom amid a low supply of existing homes. While housing activity remained a drag on economic growth through the 1st Quarter, there's now scope for steady residential investment in the 2nd Quarter and a return to positive growth in the 2nd Half.

Total US Annualized Housing Starts ROSE 30k to 1.4M, BELOW the 3-Month average of 1.4M, ABOVE the 6-Month average of 1.39M and 402k BELOW the year-ago level.