The U.S. Census Bureau released its Monthly New Residential Construction report for March on April 17, showing a double-digit decline in housing starts month-to-month, but up compared to March 2024’s rate.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.3 million, down 11.4% from February’s revised estimate of 1.4 million, but up 1.9% year-over-year. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 940,000, 14.2% below February’s revised estimate of 1.09 million.

U.S. Housing Starts Month-to-Month % Change

source: tradingeconomics.com

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.48 million, up 1.6% from the revised February rate of 1.45 million, but down 0.2% from the March 2024 rate of 1.48 million. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 978,000, down 2.0% from the revised February figure of 998,000.

Housing Completions

In March, privately-owned housing completions were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.54 million, 2.1% below the revised February rate of 1.58 million, but 3.9% above the March 2024 rate of 1.49 million. Single-family housing completed were at a rate of 1.029 million, 0.9% above the revised February rate of 1.020 million.