Housing Starts Slip with Multifamily Correction in April

A correction from an unsustainably high level of production on the volatile multifamily side was largely responsible for a 16.5 percent dip in nationwide housing starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 853,000 units in April, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. However, permits for new construction headed solidly higher in the month, with a particularly strong gain in multifamily issuance.

"While builders today are considerably more optimistic than they have been at earlier stages of the housing recovery, numerous challenges are slowing their ability to get new projects underway," observed Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. "In particular, limited access to construction credit, tough qualification standards for mortgage borrowers and rising costs for building materials, developable lots and labor are impacting the pace of construction activity."