Overall housing starts increased 2.2% in April compared with March, growing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.37 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The April rate was down 22.3% compared with April 2022.
“Single-family starts are showing gradual improvement from the beginning of the year, and this is reflected in our builder sentiment surveys, which are up for five consecutive months,” stated Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “Due to a lack of inventory for resales, we expect to see further improvement for single-family production in the months ahead even as builders continue to grapple with supply-chain and labor shortages.”
Building permits fell 1.5% compared with March and 21.1% compared with April 2022.
Housing completions tumbled 10.4% compared with March but were up 1.0% compared with April 2022.
Regionally, month-over-month, housing starts dropped 23.4% in the Northeast and 6.3% in the South. The Midwest and West recorded gains of 32.6% and 34.6%, respectively. Housing starts declined in every region compared with April 2022.
