US Housing Starts & Building Permits Slump Back Near COVID Lockdown Levels

US Housing Starts and Building Permits disappointed in October with the former dropping 3.1% MoM (-1.5% exp) and -0.6% MoM (+0.7% exp) respectively. This is the second straight month of declines for both measures of housing activity...

Source: Bloomberg

That pulled the SAAR totals down to four month lows - hovering just above COVID lockdown levels...

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood, it was very mixed with Single-family permits rising and multifamily permits dropped. Single-family Starts plunged while multi-family Starts jumped...

Source: Bloomberg

As rate-cut expectations have fallen, so have homebuilders actions it seems...

Source: Bloomberg

But homebuilder 'hope' remains high...

Source: Bloomberg

With trump back in charge, how much will Powell and his pals really want to cut rates now?