Multifamily activity drove up the rate of building permits last month, while one-unit properties lifted the rate of completed construction.
Permits for the construction of 111,900
privately owned housing units were issued during March, leaping from just 84,800 permits a month earlier.
A substantial gain was additionally made compared to the same month last year, when there were 97,700 permits handed out by in permit-issuing places.
The numbers were jointly reported Tuesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
From Jan. 1, 2017, through March 31,
there have been 284,000 permits issued.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, permits were issued at an annual rate of 1.260 million, accelerating from 1.216 million in February and 1.077 million in March 2016.
The increase came despite a 1 percent month-over-month decline with one-unit permits
to 823,000 in March 2017. Multifamily permits drove the gain, rising to an annual rate of 401,000 from 339,000.
In the West, the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 315,000, jumping from February by 17 percent — more than any other region. A 16 percent increase in the Northeast left the rate there at 134,000, while the rate improved 6 percent in the South to 619,000.
Only the Midwest saw a decline, plunging 22 percent to an annual rate of 192,000.
There were a seasonally adjusted 136,000
units authorized but not started as of the most-recent date.
Home builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.215 million last month, down 7 percent from February but 9 percent better than the same month last year.
“The three-month moving average for single-family starts has reached a post-recession high, which shows that this sector is continuing to firm,” National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement. “We can expect further gains in single-family production throughout the year, while multifamily starts should level off.”
A seasonally adjusted 1.085 million housing units were under construction at the closed of March 2017.
Builders completed construction on 92,900 housing units, substantially more than 78,700 in February and 78,800 in March 2016. Year-to-date construction completed is at
246,200 housing units.
After making adjustments for seasonal factors, construction was completed at an annual rate of 1.205 million in March 2017. The rate climbed 3 percent from the last report and soared 13 percent from the year-earlier report.
The one-unit annual rate of completed construction was up 8 percent from February to 819,000 last month. Completed multifamily construction, however, fell 5 percent to a rate of 374,000.
In the Midwest, the overall annual rate of completed construction was 191,000, surging from the prior month by 53 percent — more than any other region. A 7 percent increase in the South left the rate there at 611,000.
But in the Northeast, the annual rate fell 3 percent to 113,000, and the rate in the West tumbled 18 percent to 290,000.
