U.S. housing starts likely to have fallen in December on volatile multi-family sector

U.S. housing starts data for the month of December is set to release tomorrow. According to a Barclays research report, the housing starts are expected to have dropped 0.5 percent sequentially in the month to 1.250 million annualized.

The volatile multi-family sector is likely to have driven the fall in the headline figure as it pays back some of the large rise in November.

“Overall, we expect housing starts activity to be muted reflecting the broader slowing in the housing market last year as a result of the deterioration in housing affordability and rising mortgage rates”, added Barclays.

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