Housing starts edged 0.2% higher to 2.009M units in May following a downwardly revised 9.4% gain in April.Consensus expectations had been for 2.041M starts.

Single-family starts rose 4.7% m/m on top of the downwardly revised 5.0% increase during April. An 8.0% (3.8% y/y) increase single family starts in the Northeast recovered all of the prior month's decline but the level has been trending sideways-to-lower since late last year. Single family starts in the Midwest jumped 22.0% (4.1% y/y) and starts in the West surged 19.1 (-6.9% y/y). Weakness last month was in the South where a 7.8% (+10.0% y/y) decline reversed half of the prior month's surge.

Multi family starts reversed nearly all of the prior month's gain with a 19.3% decline.

Building permits fell 4.6% and have been slightly lower this year.