Preview: Due September 17 - U.S. August Housing Starts and Permits - Subdued with little direction
We expect August housing starts to fall by 6.2% to 1340k, correcting two straight gains of over 5.0%, while permits fall by a marginal 0.1% to 1360k.
Recent housing sector data, be it sales, surveys or construction data in August’s non-farm payroll, has not shown much direction, while remaining subdued. If Fed easing starts a base may be formed, but strong gains look unlikely.
For starts we expect a 2.0% decline in singles after a 2.8% July increase and a 14.1% decline in multiples after a 9.9% July increase that was the second straight strong gain.
For permits we expect a 1.7% decline in singles after a 1.0% July increase that was the first since February. For multiples we expect a 2.7% increase after a 7.6% July decline that followed a 6.5% June increase. We expect overall permits to see a fifth straight decline, albeit a marginal one.
