By Kent Hoover | Phoenix Business Journal
Is the U.S. becoming a nation of renters? That’s the question posed by April’s housing starts data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The totals make it look as if housing is booming — starts were up 13.2 percent in April compared with March, topping 1 million. But single-family starts were up only 0.8 percent, to 649,000. Most of the growth in housing starts came from multifamily units — housing starts for buildings with five or more units totaled 413,000.