Total housing starts are up in April
Total housing starts increased 5.7 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.360 million, according to the latest tally from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Single family starts were down 0.4 percent for the month, but 17.7 percent above the same month a year ago. Single-family starts came in at a rate of 1.031 million, exceeding the million mark for the sixth consecutive month.
On a regional basis, gains and declines ranged dramatically. For instance, total starts in the Northeast were down 43.8 percent compared to last year’s rate. But in the Midwest, single-family starts were up 40.9 percent.
Here’s the regional breakdown.
“While the start of the year has seen an expansion for single-family home building because of a lack of existing home inventory, home building activity leveled off in April as higher interest rates, tighter lending conditions and lower home building sentiment acted as headwinds on new home construction,” said Carl Harris, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Wichita, Kansas.
“Lower interest rates, particularly for builder and developer loans, will help builders to increase the pace of home construction in the months ahead," Harris added.
The NAHB anticipates tepid multifamily activity.
“Moving forward, the multifamily market will see additional declines for construction volume, while the pace of completions remains elevated,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “April marked the fifth consecutive month for which the seasonally adjusted rate of multifamily completions was above 500,000. This additional rental supply will help lower shelter inflation, which is the last leg of the inflation policy challenge.”
