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(Sharecast News) - Homebuilding activity in the States weakened more than expected last month.
According to the US Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, housing starts dipped at a month-on-month pace of 0.2% to reach an annualised pace of 1.724m.
That was significantly less than the 1.77m print anticipated by economists, although starts were up by 14.6% on a year earlier.
Weakness was centred on single-family housing starts in April, which dropped by 7.3% on the month to reach 1.1m.
The rate of housing starts for March was revised lower from a preliminary estimate of 1.793m to 1.724m.
By regions of the country, starts declined by 23.2% versus March in the Northeast and by 22.0% in the Midwest, but rose by 10.6% in the South and by 3.3% in the West.
Meanwhile, in April, building permits, a leading indicator for activity, fell by 3.2% on the month to reach a clip of 1.819m.
