US housing starts fall 11.4% in March

ISTANBUL

US housing starts fell 11.4% month-on-month in March, according to data released Thursday.

Housing starts, which measure the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, dropped to 1.324 million, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The market expectation for the March figure was 1.420 million.

The February figure was revised downward from 1.501 million to 1.494 million, changing the reported rise from 11.2% to 9.8%.

On an annual basis, housing starts in March rose 1.9% compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, building permits, a key indicator of market demand, climbed 1.6% from the previous month, totaling 1.482 million in March.

The figure exceeded market expectations of 1.45 million.

On the other hand, building permits in March were down 0.2% from the same month in 2024, when they totaled 1.485 million.