Single-Family Housing Starts Reach Highest Level since Late 2007
Nationwide housing starts rose 3% in February from an upwardly revised January reading to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.288 million units, according to recently-released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Single-family production increased 6.5% to 872,000 units—its highest reading in nearly a decade—while multifamily starts fell 3.7% to 416,000 units.
“This month’s gain in single-family starts is consistent with rising builder confidence in the housing market,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “We should see single-family production continue to grow throughout the year, tempered somewhat by supply-side constraints such as access to lots and labor.”