U.S. Homebuilding Posts Modest Growth To Mark Three-Month High In April

Homebuilding in the United States posted modest monthly gains in April as starts and completions fell from the previous month, according to the Census Bureau.

• Building permits for housing units stood at 1.760 million in April, 0.3% higher than in March and 60.9% higher than the same month in 2020.
• The latest reading is the highest since the 1.883 million permits recorded in January.
• Single-family authorizations fell 3.8% to 1.149 million in April from 1.194 million in March.
• Housing starts for the month fell 9.5% to 1.569 million from 1.733 million in March, but 67.3% higher than April 2020’s 938,000.
• Single-family housing starts were at 1.087 million, down 13.4% from March. Starts for buildings with at least five units was 470,000.
• Completions dropped 4.4% to 1.449 million from March’s 1.515 million, but 21.7% higher than April 2020’s 1.191 million.
• Single-family housing completions stood at 1.045 million, 0.1% higher than in March. Completions for buildings with five units or more were 401,000.