RealNews

The housing market continues to send mixed signals with the March report on new housing starts. Housing starts in March fell 7.8% from February to March according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday, but we still up 6.9% from March of 2005. There were 1,960,000 housing starts in March 2006. Building permits fell 5.5% to 2,059,000, but were also 1.9% above year ago levels.

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NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN MARCH 2006

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new
residential construction statistics for March 2006:
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
2,059,000. This is 5.5 percent (±0.9%) below the revised February rate of 2,179,000, but is 1.9 percent (±1.0%) above the
March 2005 estimate of 2,021,000.
Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 1,542,000; this is 6.9 percent (±0.9%) below the February figure
of 1,657,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 436,000 in March.
HOUSING STARTS
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Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,960,000. This is 7.8 percent (±9.1%)
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below the revised February estimate of 2,126,000, but is 6.9 percent (±8.5%) above the March 2005 rate of 1,833,000.
Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 1,591,000; this is 12.0 percent (±11.2%) below the February figure
of 1,807,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 334,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,218,000. This is 7.8 percent
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(±8.5%) above the revised February estimate of 2,057,000 and is 23.4 percent (±10.1%) above the March 2005 rate of
1,797,000.
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Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 1,871,000; this is 7.6 percent (±9.2%) above the February
figure of 1,739,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 303,000.