Single family starts on the rise in March

Single-family production remained at an anemic pace in February as builders continue to wrestle with elevated mortgage rates, high construction costs and tightening credit conditions that threaten to be exacerbated by recent turmoil in the banking system.

Single-family production showed signs of a gradual upturn in March as stabilizing mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to offset stubbornly high construction costs, building labor shortages and tightening credit conditions.

Overall housing starts in March decreased 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The March reading of 1.42 million starts is the number of housing units builders would begin if development kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts increased 2.7% to an 861,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate. However, this remains 27.7% lower than a year ago. The multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, de- creased 5.9% to an annualized 559,000 pace.

“With builder sentiment climbing for four consecutive months and single-family starts continuing to move gradually higher from low levels since the beginning of the year, this indicates that a turning point for single-family construction will occur later this year after declines in 2022,” said Alicia Huey, NAHB chairman. “However, builders are still challenged by ongoing supply-chain issues and a skilled labor shortage.”

“We expect choppiness for single-family construction in the months ahead, with the