US April housing starts data:
- Prior was 1216K (revised to 1276K)
- Building permits 1074K vs 1000K expected
- Prior building permits 1350K (revised to 1356K)
Housing starts were down 30.2% in the month and building permits fell 20.8%. The knock on effects on housing from the virus and economic fallout are an interesting axis. It was looking like it would be a great year for US housing but now everything is uncertain. The chart of starts is like a false breakout: