Sept housing starts -5.3% to 1.201m SAAR,...>

US DATA: Sept housing starts -5.3% to 1.201m SAAR, below the 1.220m rate 

expected following mixed revisions to the previous two months. 

There was a large 13.7% decline in the South, suggesting some impact 

from Hurricane Florence. There should be negative effects from Hurricane 

Michael next month, followed by a rebuilding boost in the coming months. 

- Starts were also down in the Midwest (-14.0%), but up in the Northeast 

(+29.0% after -9.7% in Aug) and the West (+6.6%). 1-family starts -0.9% 

and multi-family starts -15.2%. 

- Building permits -0.6% to 1.241m SAAR vs 1.260m expected, lowest 

since May 2017, with 1-family permits +2.9%, but multi-family -7.6%. 

Homes permitted but not started -0.6%.

- Q3 starts and permits were well below their Q2 averages.

- Homes under construction +0.3%, but completions -4.1% to the lowest 

since Nov, so new home supply for sale is likely to slide in the 

near term.