ConDig (18-Apr-17). US housing starts fell in March after building activity shot higher in February due to warmer-than-usual weather, but the number of builders breaking ground was still higher than the same period last year.

Latest Commerce Department figures show that housing starts dropped 6.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.215 million, but were still up 9.2% on the year-ago period of 1.113 million.

Building permit authorizations, an indicator of future home construction, rose 3.6% from the month before to 1.260 million from 1.216 million and were 17% higher than the same period last year of 1.077 million.

But single-family starts fell 6.2% in March to an annual pace of 821,000 compared to a revised February figure of 875,000.

“The three-month moving average for single-family starts has reached a post-recession high, which shows that this sector is continuing to firm,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) chief economist Robert Dietz.

“We can expect further gains in single-family production throughout the year, while multifamily starts should level off.”