US Housing Starts Collapsed In May To Lowest Since COVID
US Housing Starts Collapsed In May To Lowest Since COVID
With housing inventories at recent highs, the US housing market just suffered another sentiment setback as Housing Starts crashed by 15.4% MoM in May (far worse than 2% drop expected and worse since March 2024)), following a revised 8.5% MoM drop in April. Building Permits slipped 0.7% MoM (in line with expectations)…
Source: Bloomberg
That pulls the Housing Starts SAAR to its lowest since COVID (after reaching the highest since 2024 in April)…
Source: Bloomberg
Under the hood, it was multi-family (rental) starts that collapsed:
-
Housing Starts single-family drop from 899K (revised lower from 930K) to 882K
-
Housing Starts multi-family drop from 486K (revised lower from 529K) to 284K
Source: Bloomberg
Did ‘renter nation’ just die?
Multifamily permits also fell…
-
Housing Permits single-family rise from 881K (revised higher from 872K) to 886K
-
Housing Permits multi-family drop from 491K (revised lower from 514K) to 474K
Is homebuilder sentiment about to slump even further…
Source: Bloomberg
It seems recent rises in the mortgage rate (and inventories already at over-stuffed levels, given the slowness of sales) has finally dented the homebuilders’ self-satisfying confidence.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/16/2026 – 08:41
