Talking Points …
- As a sign that the housing recovery is in for a promising spring, homebuilders picked up the pace of new construction in March. Single-family housing starts increased construction by 2.8 percent, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000 units, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Regionally, production rose strongly in the Northeast and Midwest, with gains of 30.7 percent and 65.5 percent, respectively. However, construction dropped 9.1 percent in the South and 4.5 percent in the West.
- Multifamily construction fell 6.1 percent, to 292,000 units during the month of March.