u.s. housing starts rise in march

The seasonally adjusted annual rate for privately owned housing starts rose to 1.96 million units last month, according to a report released by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.

The March construction pace was up 6.9 percent from a year ago. Single-family housing starts increased 2.6 percent from March 2005, to a rate of 1.59 million units, while starts for buildings with five or more units rose 34.1 percent to 334,000.

The number of building permits issued, which can be an indicator of future building activity, also edged up last month, climbing 1.9 percent from one year earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.06 million permits.

Regionally, the Northeast posted the largest increase in housing starts at 14.7 percent, followed by a 7 percent increase in the South.

The rate for privately owned housing starts declined 4.3 percent in the Midwest and fell by 7.8 percent in the West.

**taken from the california association of realtors bulletin, dated april 20, 2006.