It has been an annus horribilis for housing markets in 2018 as affordability collapses on the heels of a hawkish Fed which has sent the US Housing data surprise index to a record low...

But, to stoke last minute hope, housing starts and building permits surprised to the upside (helped by some notable downward revisions).

Housing Starts +3.2% MoM (0.0% MoM exp), up from the revised lower drop of 1.6% MoM in October.

Building Pemrits

Housing Starts are down year-over-year for the second month in a row...

Housing Starts and Building Permits have gone nowhere in more than than two years...

Under the hood, rental/multifamily permits soared 15.4% to 441K from 382K , the highest since April.

But Single-family starts tumble 4.6% to 824K, lowest Since May 2017 (791K)

So, what will Powell do?