REALTORMag
Nationwide housing starts dropped in March, despite continued high buyer demand, which is adding pressure to overall home prices.
Housing starts for single-family and multifamily homes dropped 6.8 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Broken out, single-family production plunged 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 821,000 units in March month over month, following a strong February reading. Multifamily starts dropped 7.9 percent to an annual pace of 394,000.
The constraint in new-home construction is proving a big challenge for the overall housing market, says Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®.
