Total housing starts in March increased 1.9% to 1.319 million units (SAAR) following February's 3.3% decline to 1.295 million, revised from 1.236 million. A level of 1.260 million starts had been expected in the Action Economic Forecast Survey.

An increased number of multi-family starts accounted for last month's overall gain. They jumped 14.4% (23.8% y/y) to 452,000, the highest level since October 2016. Starts of single-family homes declined 3.7% last month (+5.2% y/y) to 867,000 from February's 900,000. It was the lowest level in three months.

Movement in starts last month varied around the country. Housing starts in the Midwest strengthened 22.4% last month (29.5% y/y) to 180,000 after a 1.4% February rise. In the Northeast,s starts notched 0.8% higher (13.8% y/y) to 132,000 after two months of strong increase. Starts in the West declined 1.5% (28.2% y/y) to 386,000 and reversed February's 1.8% gain. Starts in the South slipped 0.6% to 621,000 after a 9.9% decline.

Building permits increased 2.5% (7.5% y/y) to 1.395 million following a 4.1% February decline. Single-family permits declined 5.5% (+1.7% y/y) to 840,000 after a 1.4% increase in February. Permits to build multi-family homes jumped 19.0% (18.4% y/y) to 514,000, after falling 13.6%.

The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.