Housing starts drop 10.8% in March

WASHINGTON – March’s 10.8 percent national drop in housing starts was led by the volatile multi-family housing market, while the production of single-family homes remained even with the month before, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units. Multi-family home production starts fell 29 percent to an annual rate of 152,000 units. Single-family homes remained at 358,000 units per year, just 1,000 more than the 357,000 units per year in February.
“While improving interest among potential homebuyers has builders more optimistic these days, we don’t want to ramp up production until sales of new homes pick up,” NAHB Chairman Joe Robson said in a statement. “A cautious attitude about new building is definitely what’s called for here and that’s what most builders have wisely adopted for the time being.”
The March drop in housing starts represented an improvement from February’s 22.2 percent increase. That month’s rise in housing starts had also been attributed to the multi-family housing market’s “often-volatile” nature.
The National Association of Home Builders, a trade group founded in 1942, produces in-depth economic analyses of the home building industry based on private and government data. To learn more, visit www.nahb.org.