In March, privately-owned housing starts rose to their highest levels since 2008. A 26.9 percent increase in multifamily apartment buildings pushed total starts to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,036,000. This is 46.7 percent over March 2012's total rate of 769,000 and 7 percent over February.
Single-family starts did not fare as well as multifamily, dropping 4.8 percent from February to 619,000. The National Association of Home Builders, however, reported in a press release that the drop in single family starts is due to a "substantial upward revision" of February's data.
The number of building permits dropped 3.9 percent from February to 902,000, but that rate is still 17.3 percent above March 2012. Housing completions rose 11 percent to 800,000 in March, 36.3 percent above March 2012.
