February housing starts fell 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.59 million, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Year-over-year, housing starts are up 39.2%.
Building permits fell 5.5% from January to a rate of 1.55 million, and housing completions dropped 0.2% to a rate of 1.31 million.
While housing starts began the year strong, challenges remain ahead for the housing industry due to broad economic weakening stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Dean Mon said in a statement.
“With a rising number of economic sectors on a partial or full pause due to coronavirus mitigation, housing demand and the ability to continue full construction of homes is at significant risk,” NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz stated.
Regionally in February, housing starts jumped 16.7% and 15.2% in the Midwest and South, respectively. Housing starts declined 41.1% in the Northeast and 18.2% in the West during February.
The full Commerce Department report can be found here.
