Builder Gloom Hurts Housing Starts

A Commerce Department report issued today shows housing starts fell 7.4% from March to April. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,849,000 units was down 11.1% from one year ago. Permits were down 5.4% from last month and 8.0% from April 2005 at a seasonally adjusted 1.984,000.

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NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN APRIL 2006
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new
residential construction statistics for April 2006:
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
1,984,000. This is 5.4 percent (±1.1%) below the revised March rate of 2,097,000 and is 8.0 percent (±1.5%) below the
April 2005 estimate of 2,156,000.
Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 1,502,000; this is 4.0 percent (±1.0%) below the March figure of
1,565,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 411,000 in April.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,849,000. This is 7.4 percent (±7.2%)
below the revised March estimate of 1,996,000 and is 11.1 percent (±6.4%) below the April 2005 rate of 2,079,000.
Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 1,535,000; this is 5.6 percent (±7.9%)* below the March figure of
1,626,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 262,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,077,000. This is 6.6 percent
(±7.2%)* below the revised March estimate of 2,223,000, but is 8.0 percent (±7.7%) above the April 2005 rate of 1,923,000.
Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 1,779,000; this is 6.0 percent (±7.8%)* below the March figure
of 1,893,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 267,000.

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