U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back 6.8% In March, More Than Expected
April 18 2017 - 5:06AM
RTTF2
New residential construction in the U.S. pulled back sharply in
the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce
Department on Tuesday, although the report also showed a rebound in
building permits.
The report said housing starts plunged by 6.8 percent to an
annual rate of 1.215 million in March from an upwardly revised
1.303 million in February.
Economists had expected housing starts to drop by 2 percent to a
rate of 1.262 million from the 1.288 million originally reported
for the previous month.
The bigger than expected decrease in housing starts reflected
notable declines in both single-family and multi-family starts.
Single-family starts tumbled by 6.2 percent to a rate of
821,000, while multi-family starts slumped by 7.9 percent to a rate
of 394,000.
The report also showed steep drops in housing starts in the
Midwest and West, where starts plummeted by 16.2 percent and 16.0
percent, respectively.
Housing starts in the South also fell by 2.9 percent, although
housing starts in the Northeast surged up by 12.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits, an
indicator of future housing demand, jumped by 3.6 percent to a rate
of 1.260 million in March from a revised 1.216 million in
February.
Building permits had been expected to climb by 3.1 percent to a
rate of 1.250 million from the 1.213 million that had been reported
for the previous month.
Multi-family permits led the way back to the upside, jumping by
13.8 percent to a rate of 437,000 in March after plummeting by 21
percent to a rate of 384,000 in February.
On the other hand, the report said single-family permits slid by
1.1 percent to a rate of 823,000 in March from a rate of 832,000 in
February.
Building permits in the West, Northeast, and South saw notable
increases during the month, while building permits in the Midwest
fell sharply.
On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders released a
report showing a bigger than expected pullback in homebuilder
confidence in the month of April.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index
dropped to 68 in April after jumping to 71 in March. Economists had
expected the index to edge down to 70.
The bigger than expected decrease by the index came after it
reached its highest level since June of 2005 in the previous
month.
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