The U.S. Census Bureau released its Monthly New Residential Construction report for April on May 16, showing a modest increase in overall housing starts following a revised March double-digit decline.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.36 million, up 1.6% from March’s revised estimate (-10.1%) but down 1.7% year-over-year. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 927,000, down 2.1% from March.

U.S. Housing Starts Month-Over-Month % Change

source: tradingeconomics.com

Building Permits

April’s privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.41 million, down 4.7% from March’s rate and down 3.2% year-over-year. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 922,000, down 5.1% from March.

Housing Completions

In April, privately-owned housing completions were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.45 million, 5.9% below the revised March rate of 1.54 million, and 12.3% below the April 2024 rate of 1.66 million. Single-family housing completed were at a rate of 943,000, 8.0% below the revised March rate of 1.02 million.