Despite a 0.8% overall drop in housing starts to 1.420 million units in March, where the decline in multifamily home building offset the rise in single-family projects, and an 8.8% overall decline in building permits to a rate of 1.413 million units, there is good news for single-family home builders, Reuters reports.
Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, rose 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000 units last month. Data for February was revised higher to show single-family homebuilding rising to a rate of 838,000 units instead of the previously reported pace of 830,000 units.
Single-family homebuilding increased 4.4% in the Northeast and soared 23.6% in the Midwest. It advanced 4.8% in the densely populated South, but plunged 16.0% in the West. Single-family housing starts dropped 27.7% on a year-on-year basis in March.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Market Data + Trends
Data Show New-Home Construction Starts Slowed at the End of 2023
Despite falling mortgage rates and a continuing shortage of housing inventory, the annual pace of new-home construction slowed in December
Housing Markets
Top 10 Metros for New Homes in 2024
Punta Gorda, Fla., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., top the list of places where new-home construction is booming
New-Construction Projects
US Housing Starts See Unexpected Surge in November
Census Bureau data show new-home construction was up 14.8% in November, suggesting the housing crunch may be easing
