Housing Starts Up 0.8% in March

Washington, DC, April 17, 2007—Housing starts rose 0.8 percent in March, according to a Commerce Department report. Starts set an annual pace of 1.518 million units in March compared with a 1.506 million unit pace in February.

Economists had forecast March housing starts to drop to a 1.495 million unit pace from February's originally reported 1.525 million units.

Building permits also rose 0.8 percent to a 1.544 million unit pace. Economists were expecting building permits to register a 1.510 million unit pace, down from the 1.532 million in February.

Last month's permits figure was off 25.9 percent from the March 2006 pace of 2.085 million units.

Housing completions were off 25.9 percent in March from a year ago at a 1.632 million unit pace -- the biggest percentage decline since June 1982.