U.S. Housing Starts Soar 30.7% In March

Construction of new homes in the United States rose by 30.7% year-on-year in March, according to data released by the Census Bureau.

• Privately-owned housing starts were at 1.739 million from the 1.269 million in March 2020. This is also 19.4% above the revised February estimated of 1.457 million.
• Single-family housing starts gained 15.3% to 1.238 million from 1.074 million in February. The rate for units in buildings with at least five units was 477,000.
• Housing completions increased 23.4% to 1.580 million from 1.280 million in March 2020, and 16.6% from the February estimate of 1.355 million in February.
• Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits grew 30.2% to 1.766 million from 1.356 million last year, and 2.7% from 1.720 million in February.
• Single-family authorizations grew 4.6% to 1.199 million from February’s 1.146 million.