Housing starts in April dropped 3.7% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,287,000 but remained 10.5% ahead of the same month a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 894,000, essentially flat with the revised March figure of 893,000.
Building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,352,000, 1.8% below the revised March rate of 1,377,000 but 7.7% above the April 2017 rate of 1,255,000. Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 859,000, 0.9% above the revised March figure of 851,000.
Housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,257,000, 2.8% above the revised March estimate of 1,223,000 and 14.8% above the April 2017 rate of 1,095,000. Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 820,000, 4.0% below the revised March rate of 854,000.
“On a month-to-month basis the residential construction market cooled, with housing starts coming in at 1.29 million, a 4% national decline,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. “The drop was broad based, as construction slowed in three out of the four regions in the US. The April decline was also driven by weakness in multifamily, which experienced a 13% drop in starts relative to March. Single-family essentially remained flat.”
Khater continued, “The weakest region was the Midwest, where April starts fell 16% from March. The only region that increased on a month-to-month basis was the South, where housing starts increased 6%. On an April year-to-date basis, the supply-starved West region was by far the most vibrant growing construction region, with a 28% increase in construction.”
