Housing Starts Stuck At 1 Million

US housing starts for May came in below consensus at 1,001K units vs expectations of 1,036K units. Housing starts are still about 9.5% higher than they were a year ago. Regionally, housing starts are strongest in the Midwest while in the Northeast, starts are actually 5% lower than they were a year ago. Building permits were also below expectations in May (991K vs 1,062K expected). Charts below.