Housing Starts
Housing starts rose in May to an annual rate of 1.269 million, which was better than expected, with upward revisions to the prior two months that totaled 77,000. The strength is in multi-family units, which were up 13.7% year over year. Single-family home building starts were down 12.5% year over year. Permits to build declined 0.5% year over year.
Residential investment continues to be a drag on the rate of economic growth, as the number of homes under construction in May held at 1.311 million. The second quarter average is 1.5% below the