March housing starts 10 percent above last year

Single-family housing starts were up 10.3 percent year-over-year in March, according to the newest data from the Census Bureau, released Tuesday. In total, 654,000 starts were recorded for the month. Regional growth was greatest in the Northeast, where March housing starts were up 45.9 percent year-over-year.

On a month-to-month basis, total national starts were down 5.8 percent from February to March. Despite that overall number, amongst the four regions, only the South saw housing starts decline (15.9 percent); the Northeast and Midwest saw growth of 32.8 percent and 1 percent respectively, while the West registered no change.

Building permits

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 747,000. This is 4.5 percent above the revised February rate of 715,000 and is 30.1 percent above the March 2011 estimate of 574,000.

Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 462,000; this is 3.5 percent below the revised February figure of 479,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 262,000 in March.

Housing completions

Privately owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000. This is 4.2 percent above the revised February estimate of 576,000 and is 0.5 percent above the March 2011 rate of 597,000.

Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 440,000; this is 1.4 percent above the revised February rate of 434,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 146,000.

To read the rest of the Census Bureau report, click here.