U.S. Housing Starts Fell in April
May 18 2021 - 9:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Construction of new homes in the U.S. fell in April after
surging in March, data from the Commerce Department showed Tuesday.
Here are the main takeaways from the report:
--Housing starts, a measure of U.S. homebuilding, decreased by
9.5% in April compared with March, to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 1.569 million. This is below the consensus forecast from
The Wall Street Journal poll of economists, who expected starts to
decline 2.2% to an annual pace of 1.7 million.
--The current level of starts is 67.3% above compared with the
same month a year earlier, when construction activity plunged amid
the pandemic-induced shutdowns.
--In March, housing starts amounted to a revised 1.733 million
from an earlier estimate of 1.739 million.
--Monthly housing starts data are volatile and are often
revised. April data came with a margin of error of 10.8 percentage
points.
--Residential permits, which can be a bellwether for future home
construction, increased 0.3% in April, at a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1.76 million. The figure is broadly in line with
economists' forecasts of a 0.2% rise to an annual pace of 1.77
million.
--U.S. housing starts report for April compares with May's
indicator compiled by the National Association of Home Builders,
which showed confidence in the single-family housing market
remaining at high levels.
--Home builders are ramping up construction amid strong buyer
demand and scarce supply of homes for sale, but shortages of labor
and increasing prices for building materials pose some downside
risks for the months ahead, economists say.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2021 09:01 ET (13:01 GMT)
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