Housing Starts Rose in April, but Are Still Down Significantly From a Year Ago

Housing starts rose to 1.4 million in April, up 2.2% from March 2023, but still down a substantial 22.3% from April 2022, Zillow reports. A boost in builder sentiment caused by a shortage of existing-home inventory led to an increase in single-family home construction, but compared with the building boom of 2021 and 2022, new construction has slowed considerably.

What Zillow Senior Economist Nicole Bachaud thinks: Because of a lack of inventory of existing homes, newly built homes will continue to be a big part of prospective buyers’ search for the foreseeable future. The good news is that home builder sentiment increased in April to positive territory for the first time since last summer, likely thanks to the low inventory of existing homes on the market meeting with spring home shopping demand. With renewed energy running through the spring housing market, hopefully home building activity will continue on an upward trajectory to add vital inventory when it’s needed the most.

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