19-May-2025 08:24

While the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing a rebound by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of April, the report also showed a substantial pullback by building permits during the month.

The Commerce Department said housing starts shot up by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.361 million in April after plummeting by 10.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.339 million in March.

The smaller than expected rebound by housing starts came as a sharp increase by multi-family starts was partly offset by a continued slump by single-family starts.

While multi-family starts soared by 10.7 percent to an annual rate of 434,000, single-family starts tumbled by 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 927,000.

Meanwhile, the report said building permits plunged by 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.412 million in April after jumping by 1.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.481 million in March.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to slump by 2.2 percent to a rate of 1.450 million from the 1.482 million originally reported for the previous month.

Single-family permits plummeted by 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 922,000, while multi-family permits dove by 3.7 percent to an annual rate of 490,000.

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