Housing Starts Dropped 6.8 Percent In March

Economists and analysts expected a decline in residential construction last month due to a snowstorm that hit the Northeast.

Through data from the Department of Commerce, Business Insider reports that home starts fell 6.8 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million.

Construction in February had been supported by warmer-than-usual weather, and so the cooldown in March was expected to affect homebuilding. … Economists had forecast that starts fell 3% in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.25 million.

Single-family home building dropped 6.2 percent to a rate of 821,000 units. Building permits increased 3.6 percent to a pace of 1.26 million.

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