Building Permits Slide For 2nd Month, Miss Expectations; Starts Near Cycle Highs

For the 2nd month in a row, Building Permits dropped and missed expectations. The 1.9% MoM drop in December was a notable miss against expectations of a 0.6% rise and left YoY Permits at a mere +1.0% - hovering at the weakest growth since mid 2011. The long-heralded savior of permits - multi-family - tumbled to their lowest since June; with overall permits lower in all regions aside from the "weather-affected" Midwest. Housing Starts rose back near cycle highs (just don't tell KB Homes) beating expectations for the 4th month in a row.

 

2nd month with a miss and a drop for permits...

 

 

 

And Housing Starts push back towards cycle highs...

 

The breakdown:

Multi-family (rental) permits dropped to 338K,the lowest since June. It appears Wall Street's infatuation with rental properties is dead and buried and it is all downhill from here. Single-family permits rose to 667K - cycle highs, driven by increases in all regions except the Northeast.

 

 

 

Likewise, December Housing Start for single-family units jumped to 728K, another post-2008 high, however offset by multi-family start which dropped to 339K, the lowest since August. Starts rose in all regions except the Midwest.