Housing Starts Fall Further in March

New-home construction continued to lag in March, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. Total housing starts fell nearly 12 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000 units for the month.

The single-family side of the housing market continued to display persistent and sizeable declines in both new-home starts and permits for new construction in March, with starts down 5.7 percent to 680,000 units and permits down 6.2 percent to 606,000 units. Meanwhile, the multifamily side continued to display extreme volatility in starts and permits, with 24.6 percent and 5 percent declines, respectively.

Regionally, housing starts were down across the board in March, with an 8.5 percent decline registered in the Northeast, a 21.4 percent decline in the Midwest, a 12.6 percent decline in the South and a 5.7 percent decline in the West. 

DWM
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