Housing Starts, Permits and Completions Decline Month-Over-Month in April but Remain Up Year-Over-Year

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that privately‐owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,569,000. This is -9.5% below the revised March estimate of 1,733,000 but is 67.3% above the April 2020 rate. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 1,087,000; and this is -13.4% below the revised March figure. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 470,000. Building Permits are the forward-looking portion of the report and in April privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a SAAR of 1760,000. This is -0.3% above the revised March rate of 1,755,000 and is 60.9% above the April 2020 rate. Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 1,149,000; this is -3.8% below the March figure of 1,194,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 559,000. Completions are the number of homes finished during the month. Privately‐owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,449,000. This is -4.4% below the revised March estimate of 1,515,000, but is 21.7% above the April 2020 rate of 1,191,000. Single‐family housing completions in April were at a rate of 1,045,000; this is 0.1% above the revised March rate of 1,044,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 401,000.