Housing starts blew through economist estimates in March, posting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,319,000, 1.9% above the revised February estimate of 1,295,000 and is 10.9% above the March 2017 rate of 1,189,000, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Econmists were looking for a rate of 1.264 million.
Multi-family starts led the surge, coming in at a rate of 439,000, up 16.1% sequentially and 23.7% year-over-year. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 867,000, 3.7% below the revised February figure of 900,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 439,000.
Building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,354,000, 2.5% above the revised February rate of 1,321,000 and 7.5% above the March 2017 rate of 1,260,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 840,000, this is 5.5% below the revised February figure of 889,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 473,000 in March, up 22.9% sequentially and 19.1% from March 2017.
Housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,217,000, 5.1% below the revised February estimate of 1,282,000 but 1.9% above the March 2017 rate of 1,194,000. Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 840,000, 4.7% below the revised February rate of 881,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 371,000, down 5.7% from February but up 0.8% from March last year.
