Housing Starts Gain Momentum in March

A substantial increase in new home construction last month provided reassurance that housing activity will proceed at a healthy level this year, according to Kent Conine, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a house and apartment builder from Dallas.

Figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that new homes were started at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.78 million in March, an increase of 8.3 percent from February's pace of 1.64 million units.

“In an economy that continues to display overall weakness, housing remains a remarkable source of strength,” said Conine. “We are confident that the industry will experience a very good year in 2003.”

NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders said that the Commerce Department report “provides good news that the industry remained resilient through major weather gyrations as well as uncertainties related to the war in Iraq and a potential terrorist backlash. It's now clear that, in this year's first quarter, housing once again provided a solid contribution to growth in the nation's Gross Domestic Product.”

Single-family starts in March climbed 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.41 million and the rate of multifamily construction during the month quickened to a pace of 366,000, a 10.6 percent gain.