Glimmer of Hope for Single-Family New Construction as Number of Building Permits Surges

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.

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