New Residential Construction Trends Up in March

Housing permits and starts improve month over month but still lag behind 2010 rates.

---

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2011:

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 594,000. This is 11.2 percent (±2.6%) above the revised February rate of 534,000, but is 13.3 percent (±1.3%) below the March 2010 estimate of 685,000.

Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 405,000; this is 5.7 percent (±1.1%) above the revised February figure of 383,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 173,000 in March.

HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000. This is 7.2 percent (±18.0%)* above the revised February estimate of 512,000, but is 13.4 percent (±9.1%) below the March 2010 rate of 634,000.

Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 422,000; this is 7.7 percent (±15.0%)* above the revised February figure of 392,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 117,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 509,000. This is 14.2 percent (±13.9%) below the revised February estimate of 593,000 and is 20.8 percent (±9.6%) below the March 2010 rate of 643,000.

Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 374,000; this is 22.2 percent (±9.4%) below the revised February rate of 481,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 130,000.

---