More on May 2023 Residential Construction

I saw this tweet from Jay Parsons, skeptical of the May spike in housing starts, because on the ground he is seeing stalled projects, difficulty with financing, etc., and other aggregate measures are showing decline.

https://twitter.com/jayparsons/status/1671510134311337986

Bill McBride noted that architectural billings are a leading indicator. They have been bearish (below 50) for much of the year. And, they are especially bearish on multifamily. Here’s his chart.

All of this got me to think some thinks, and I had enough thinks that it seemed appropriate to add another post to the May residential construction update.