Single-Family Housing Starts Fall 5% in April

Single-family housing starts fell 5.1 percent in April to an annual rate of 394,000, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce; the annual rate during March was 415,000 starts. Overall, privately owned housing starts-including multi-family dwellings-were at a rate of 551,000, or 4 percent below the March rate of 574,000. Compared with figures from April 2010, overall housing starts are down 12.8 percent.