US housing starts fall more quickly than expected in April

(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.