New data in from the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) shows that homebuilding in the U.S. fell in the month of March, recording its biggest decline in three years.

According to the St. Louis Dispatch, housing starts declined 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units. February housing starts were revised up, to a 1.30 million-unit pace. Starts were previously reported at a 1.29 million-rate.

Single-family homebuilding dropped 6.2 percent to 821,000 units, with starts in the Midwest seeing their biggest drop (25 percent) since January 2014.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast groundbreaking activity falling to a 1.25 million-unit pace last month. Homebuilding was up 9.2 percent compared to March 2016.

The report cites that unseasonably warm temperatures boosted construction in February, and a drop in temperatures, along with storms in the Northeast and Midwest, could have contributed to the drop in March homebuilding numbers.

Overall, single family home starts in the Northeast remained unchanged while they rose 3.2 percent in the South, but fell 5.5 percent in the West. Starts for multi-family housing dropped 7.9 percent to a 394,000 unit-pace.

As the Daily Business News has reported prior, the traditional housing sector remains constrained by a dearth of properties available for sale.

Builders have cited a range of problems including shortages of labor and land as well as rising material prices. A recent survey showed that homebuilder confidence slipped in April from a near 12-year high in March.

The Daily Business News, MHProNews and MHLivingNews have covered the case for manufactured housing as a viable solution to hope for the American Dream of home ownership at a reasonable price extensively, including Bloomberg making a statement to the same effect.

The myths, and the facts surrounding manufactured housing abound. To learn more, including why manufactured housing is the solution hiding in plain sight for many to achieve the American Dream, click here. ##

 

(Image credits are as shown above.)

 

Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.