US housing starts likely to have eased in May

US housing starts are expected to have eased in May after it reached a cyclical high at the start of 2016. According to a Societe Generale report, housing starts are likely to have declined 32,000 in May to 1.14 million seasonally adjusted. The South region is likely to have reversed some of its gains in May and is likely to have declined to around 410,000. This is likely to be countered by a rise in the West region to approximately 274,000.

Meanwhile, the Northeast region should continue to be stable as single and multi-family homes in that region remain on pace with their recent months’ averages, stated Societe Generale. Further weakness might be registered in the multi-family structures in the Midwest. The projections have risks on the upside stemming from new home sales report for April. Single-family home sold but not started gave over 60 percent of the 55,000 growth for the April month.