Housing starts in the US sank 14.4% mom in May of 2022, the most since April 2020, as the housing market is facing high pressure from rising inflation and mortgage rates, which coupled with elevated building material costs and supply constraints weigh on consumers' affordability. The annual rate of total housing starts fell to 1.55 million last month from a revised 1.81 million in April which was the strongest reading since May of 2006. Single-family housing starts dropped 9.2% to 1.051 million and starts for units in buildings with five units or more plunged 26.8% to 0.469 million. Starts sank in the South (-20.7%) and the West (-17.8%) but rose in the Northeast (14.6%) and the Midwest (1.9%). source: U.S. Census Bureau