Significant Drop in Housing Starts

The US Census Bureau reported a notable 11.4% decrease in housing starts for March, with figures standing at 1,324,000. Despite this monthly dip, there was a slight year-on-year increase of 1.9%. Single-family housing starts were particularly affected, dropping by 14.2% to 940,000.

Building Permits Show Mixed Signals

Building permits experienced a modest rise of 1.6% in March compared to February's revised figures, reaching 1,482,000. However, this was still 0.2% lower than the previous year. Single-family permits saw a 2.0% decrease month-on-month, totaling 978,000.

Housing Completions Offer a Silver Lining

Despite the downturn in starts and permits, housing completions provided some positive news. March saw 1,549,000 completions, a 3.9% increase from the previous year, though down 2.1% from February. Single-family completions edged up by 0.9% to 1,029,000.