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U.S. Housing Starts Top Forecasts on Multifamily Construction
U.S. new-home construction rose by more than forecast in March on a rebound in multifamily starts, giving a boost to first-quarter economic growth, government figures showed Tuesday. The results show a tight job market, improved finances and consumers' elevated confidence to purchase big-ticket items are supporting construction. That means homebuilding probably contributed to economic growth for the second consecutive quarter. The strength in March was concentrated in multifamily construction such as apartment buildings. That category tends to be volatile; March's advance in starts followed a 10.2 percent drop in the ... (full story)
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US Monthly New Residential Construction, March 2018
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2018: Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,354,000. This is 2.5 percent (±1.4 percent) above the revised February rate of 1,321,000 and is 7.5 percent (±1.4 percent) above the March 2017 rate of 1,260,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 840,000; this is 5.5 percent (±1.5 percent) below the revised February figure of 889,000. Authorizations of units in ... (full story)