January 2020 US housing starts data
- Prior was 1608K
- Building permits 1551K vs 1450K expected
- Prior permits 1420K
Starts were down 3.6% m/m but a much deeper fall of around 11% was expected so this is a big beat and shows that low rates and low unemployment have home builders in the US feeling very good. A pessimist might point to better weather, particularly in the northeast where starts rose 31.9%. I'm sympathetic to that argument but the market is undoubtedly improving with permits (which aren't weather sensitive) up across the board:
- Northeast +34.6%
- Midwest +8.2%
- South +8.0%
- West +3.1%
