The housing market recovered quite well last year in the US, after the dive during the lockdowns. Many people moved out of the big cities in the US, due to the high crime levels and the unrest in these places. They  moved to the interior, so the housing market boomed in these places, surpassing the 2019-20 highs. They cooled off last month, both the housing starts and building permits, but remain high nonetheless.

US housing starts and building permits for February 2021

• Housing starts 1.42M annualized vs 1.56M est.. Last month revise to 1.58K from 1.58K previously reported
• Housing starts MoM -10.3% versus -1.3% estimate.  Prior month revise 2-5.1% from -6.0% previously reported
• Building permits 1.68M annualized vs 1.75K est. prior month 1.88K vs 1.88K previously reported
• Building permits MoM -10.8% versus -7.2% estimate. Previous month revise higher to +10.7% from +10.4%
• Completions rose to 136K versus 132 K the parallel.   Single family completions rose 1042K.  Multi Family completions rose to 320K
• Under construction 1283K versus 1279K last month.  +0.3% versus +1.0% last month
• Housing starts are the lowest since August of last year
• Building permits on lowest since November 2020

Higher prices and higher rates will likely start to impact strong housing numbers going forward