Housing: The Bad News Continues

More bad news on housing starts and permits:
Husts

As I said in an earlier post,  we are vastly overbuilt in housing.  It will take several years to work off the excess inventory.  Now let’s get some historical perspective:
Hustsold

This is not (yet) the lowest we’ve seen housing starts, not even adjusted for population growth.  Nor it is (quite) the steepest decline we’ve ever seen.  But it’s definitely a sharp drop.

Business Planning Implications: Still no signs of spillover to consumer spending, but the housing construction supply chain will stay weak for longer than most industry participants seem to realize, or at least to admit in public.