Housing starts decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The decrease was 30.2% below the revised March estimate of 1.276 million and is 29.7% lower than the April 2019 rate of 1.267 million. Single-family home starts decreased 25.4% from last month.
Housing starts declined across the country in the Northeast (42.6%), West (43.3%), Midwest (14.9%) and South (26.0%).
New building permits fell to 1.074 million in April, dropping 20.8% over the month and 19.2% year-over-year. Single-family building permits decreased 24.3% from the revised March figure.
Housing completions were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.176 million, down 8.1% from the revised March estimate and 11.8% below the April 2019 rate.
Read the Census release.
