US housing starts June 2018 1.173m vs 1.320m exp

June 2018 US housing starts and building permits 18 July 2018

Prior 1.350m
Building permits 1.273m vs 1.330m exp. Prior 1.301m

Big miss all round. That’s the biggest drop in starts for nearly a year and the 3rd straight drop in permits. This might be something of a warning sign for the housing market.

Permits falling is a problem because that’s an early indicator of the housing market slowing down. Land shortages and a lack of workers is also being blamed and that’s likely to push prices up. So, we could have a situation where house building slows but prices start bubbling. We’re probably wquite a way from that but if we’re seeing the early signs, we’ll know what’s coming.

USDJPY had already dropped on news that China was looking to ramp up metal tariffs on the US and we trade down at 112.71.