Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.172 million in April, 6.6% above March’s revised estimate of 1.099 million, but 1.7% below the April 2015 rate. Housing starts have remained above the 1.0 million rate for 13 consecutive months.
Housing activity was mixed across regions in April. Starts fell 7.6% in the Northeast, and 10.0% in the West, but rose 14.1% in the South and 22.2% in the Midwest.
New building permits rose during the month, rising 3.6% above March’s rate to 1.116 million. New permits, however, declined year-over-year, falling 1.3% below the April 2015 estimate.
Housing completions fell in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.933 million, 11.0% below March’s rate and down 7.4% from a year ago.
Read the Census release.
