New Home Construction Essentially Unchanged in April, Although Single-Family is Down Sharply

Single-family home construction falls by over 7 percent in contrast to a 15 percent increase for multifamily units.

Builders have been gradually moving away from single family construction. They account for 64 percent of total new home construction vs. 80 percent at the beginning of last year.
April starts are running 14.6 percent ahead of last year, led by an astounding 41 percent increase for multifamily units.
April saw a record annual equivalent of 1.64 million homes under construction, but labor issues have resulted in delayed completions.
Regionally, new starts were led by an 11 percent gain in the South and 3 percent growth in the West. In contrast, the smaller Northeast and Midwest were off sharply, by 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Continued increases in mortgage rates are likely to result in a weakening of new housing construction.