After surprising top the upside in August, Housing Starts and Building Permits disappointed in September, declining more than expected (-0.5% MoM and -2.9% MoM respectively)...
Source: Bloomberg
Under the hood, multi-family permits plunged 10. 8% MoM (and multi-family starts dropped for the second straight month). Single-family starts rose 2.7% MoM and permiots inchjed higher by 0.3% MoM...
Source: Bloomberg
Rate-cut expectations appear to have taken the excitement out of the building market...
Source: Bloomberg
Housing Completions also dropped (but the BLS thinks construction jobs continue to rise non-stop)...
Source: Bloomberg
So, The Fed cuts short-term rates... mortgage-rates rise... and builders slow their building plans... that's not how it's supposed to work!