May Housing Starts Rose 21.7% from April, Up 5.7% YOY

June 20-, 2023 from Floor Focus FloorDaily News

Washington, DC, June 20, 2023 – Privately‐owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,631,000, 21.7% above the revised April estimate of 1,340,000 and is 5.7% above the May 2022 rate of 1,543,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced.

Single‐family housing starts in May were at a rate of 997,000; this is 18.5% above the revised April figure of 841,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 624,000.

Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,491,000. This is 5.2% above the revised April rate of 1,417,000, but is 12.7% below the May 2022 rate of 1,708,000. Single‐family authorizations in May were at a rate of 897,000; this is 4.8% above the revised April figure of 856,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 542,000 in May.

Privately‐owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,518,000. This is 9.5% above the revised April estimate of 1,386,000 and is 5.0% above the May 2022 rate of 1,446,000. Single‐family housing completions in May were at a rate of 1,009,000; this is 3.9% above the revised April rate of 971,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 493,000.

Says Truist, “Housing starts results showed a dramatic sequential improvement in demand, matching the commentary from public builders in recent months. While single family starts were still down y/y, the single digit decline was far better than 20-30% declines of the past year, with permits following the same pattern. Multi-family is still the strongest start market, but permits are starting to weaken. In total, this is an exceptionally good sign for housing, and we expect starts to turn positive in 2H23 on the easing comparisons.

“Per the US Census Bureau, total housing starts (on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis), were 1,631K units in April, which came in significantly above the consensus estimate of 1,400K units. Total unadjusted starts rose 5.7% y/y, posting the first yearly gain since April 2022. Unadjusted single family starts were down 5% y/y to 91.9K units. We note that this is a significant improvement from the consistent 20%+ declines observed since October 2022 and will face much easier comps in 2H23. Multi-family starts (5+ units) spiked 42% y/y following a weaker April.”