The U.S. Census Department announced last week that privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 853,000, 16.5% percent below the revised March estimate of 1,021,000, but 13.1% above the April 2012 rate of 754,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 610,000, 2.1% below the revised March figure of 623,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 234,000.
In analyzing the most recent housing data, David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Washington, D.C., said, “The big decline in April housing production was mostly on the multi-family side, which recorded a similarly dramatic increase in the previous month.”
