April home construction falls to six-month low

[marmar]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Construction of new U.S. homes dropped in April as far fewer apartments were put up, according to government data released Thursday that nonetheless signal rebounding activity in the building sector.

Housing starts fell 16.5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 853,000 — the lowest level since November — after a big drop in the volatile apartment segment, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Starts for single-family homes declined 2.1% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000, while starts for structures with at least five units dropped 37.8% to a rate of 234,000.

Apartment starts had jumped higher in March, and analysts expected a pullback in this category for April. But the pullback was greater than forecast, as economists polled by MarketWatch had expected overall home-construction starts in April to decline to a rate of 965,000 from a prior March estimate of 1.036 million. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/april-home-construction-falls-to-six-month-low-2013-05-16?link=MW_story_latest_news

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt