by Calculated Risk on 5/17/2016 08:39:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000. This is 6.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 1,099,000, but is 1.7 percent below the April 2015 rate of 1,192,000.

Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 778,000; this is 3.3 percent above the revised March figure of 753,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 373,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,116,000. This is 3.6 percent above the revised March rate of 1,077,000, but is 5.3 percent below the April 2015 estimate of

Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 736,000; this is 1.5 percent above the revised March figure of 725,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 348,000 in April.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) increased in April compared to March.  Multi-family starts are down 12% year-over-year.

Single-family starts (blue) increased in April, and are up 4% year-over-year.



The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

 The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then - after moving sideways for a couple of years - housing is now recovering (but still historically low),

Total housing starts in April were above expectations, and combined starts for February and March were revised up.  I'll have more later ...