A little sunshine: Residential construction rose in March

Nationwide housing starts, an important component in the nation’s economy, rose 7.2 percent in March, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today.

Coming on the heels of disappointing declines in February, this gain was represented in both the single- and multifamily sectors, and was mirrored by substantial improvements in building permit issued for the same period.

“While the overall rate of new-home production remains quite low and is still being weighed down by significant uncertainties among both home builders and buyers, this latest report is encouraging,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

“It means that some builders are cautiously beginning to re-stock their extremely thin inventories of new homes in anticipation of gradual improvement in consumer demand as the economy slowly inches toward recovery.”

Gains in new-home production were seen across the board in March, with upward movement registered in both the single- and multifamily sectors as well as three out of four regions.

Regionally, housing starts posted double-digit gains of 32.3 percent in the Midwest and 27.6 percent in the West, as well as a 5.4 percent gain in the Northeast. The South was the only region to post a decline in housing starts in March, of 3.3 percent.