Housing starts slip in March
The Census Bureau's latest data on housing starts reflects the anxious U.S. economic landscape.
Privately-owned housing starts in March clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,324,000. This figure is 11.4 percent below the revised February estimate of 1,494,000, but it's 1.9 percent above the March 2024 rate of 1,299,000.
Meanwhile, single-family housing starts in March slumped to 940,000. This is 14.2 percent below the revised February figure of 1,096,000.
Regional data
Perhaps the lone bright spot of March's data was in the Midwest, which registered a 76.2 percent month-over-month increase in total starts while single-family numbers jumped 20.4 percent.
Elsewhere, the Northeast did boost month-over-month total starts by 1.4 percent (from 138,000 to 140,000), though its single-family starts dipped 25.8 percent from February's figures. Starts in the South (-17.1 percent total, -17.6 percent single-family) and West (-30.9 percent total, -15 percent single-family) were also down.
The National Association of Home Builders elaborated on March's data and the ongoing challenges posed by pricing pressures:
“The drop in March housing starts is a clear signal that affordability pressures are intensifying,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. “Elevated mortgage rates and rising construction costs are making it increasingly difficult to deliver homes at price points accessible to entry-level buyers. We're seeing demand soften as more potential home owners are priced out of the market.”
“March's decline in housing production reflects the ongoing struggle to balance construction costs with the need for affordable housing,” said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB’s assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis. “High material prices and labor shortages continue to challenge our ability to build homes that meet the budget constraints of many families. Without targeted policy support, addressing the affordability crisis remains an uphill battle.”
