Housing Construction Hits 16-Month High in March

Washington, DC, April 16, 2010--Housing construction in March rose to the highest level in 16 months on the strength of multi-family homes.

The Commerce Department said that construction of single-family homes, the most important segment of the market, fell. It dropped 0.9 percent to an annual rate of 531,000 units, after a strong 5.7 percent gain in February.

But permits for single-family construction were up.

Overall, construction rose 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000. That was higher than the 610,000 level that economists expected. In addition, the government revised February's numbers to show a 1.1 percent gain rather than the initially reported drop of 5.9 percent.

Applications for building permits recorded a better-than-expected increase in March, rising 7.5 percent to an annual rate of 685,000.

The weakness in single-family construction was offset by an 18.8 percent surge in the smaller multifamily sector, which rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 95,000 units.