Nationwide housing starts fell 8.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.089 million units in March, according to newly released data from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Overall permit issuance was also down 7.7%.
“Single-family starts are off from their strong showing in February but this slowdown represents a return to a long-run, gradual growth trend that is consistent with builder confidence levels, which are overall positive,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “While we are also seeing a monthly decline on the multifamily front [since November], multifamily construction is expected to level off at a solid rate given the high level of rental housing demand.”
Average first-quarter starts are 15.9% greater than that of the first three months of 2015, with single-family starts 23.2% above the first quarter of last year, and multifamily starts 12.4% better.
“Starts are up at a double-digit rate from a year ago and builders remain fairly optimistic that more consumers will return to the housing market in the months ahead,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill.
Both housing sectors posted production declines this month. Single-family housing starts fell 9.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 764,000 units in March while multifamily starts dropped 8.5% to 312,000 units. On a year-over-year basis, however, single-family starts were up 22.6%.
Combined single- and multifamily starts fell in three of the four regions in March:
- Midwest: -25.4%
- West: -15.7%
- South: -8.4%
- Northeast: +61.3%
Single-family permits fell 1.2% to a rate of 727,000 while multifamily permits dropped 20.5% to 359,000.
All four regions posted permit losses in March:
- Northeast: -17.9%
- Midwest: -3.1%
- South: -3.2%
- West: -15.4%
