If it wasn't clear to everyone that the "old normal" American Dream of buying and owning a house is now dead and buried, then today's just announced housing starts and permits data put the last nail in that particular coffin, because as we noted earlier while single-family housing starts dropped once again, this time to a level last seen in October, the real story was in housing permits. But not single-family permits: multi-family ones, aka rental buildings, just had the biggest monthly surge since June 2008, jumping 26% in one month, and a whopping 54% from a year ago!

Putting this move in context, while single-family starts languish at recessionary levels...

... the US "rental recovery" is in full force as multi-family permits just jumped to the highest level since 1990.

While we are confident this data will be promptly revised lower as today's "fat finger" is normalized with 2, 3 or more seasonal adjustments, the good news if any is that while rental prices have been soaring in recent years...

... there may finally be some respite for America's new rental generation. Just give it 2-2 years before all these permits become starts, then completions, and finally the housing units are rented out.