by Overall number of residential units completed in April rose 1.2% compared to April 2022
WASHINGTON — Year-over-year privately owned building permits and housing starts for the month of April were down again by double digits, while the number of units completed was up slightly during the same month.
Figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce show the number of building permits issued totaled 1,416,000, down 21.1% from the 1,795,000 issued in April 2022 and down 1.5% below the revised March rate of 1,437,000. Meanwhile, housing starts totaled 1,401,000, 22.3% below the rate of 1,803,000 in April 2022, but up 2.2% above a revised March estimate of 1,371,000.
Single-family building permits issued totaled 855,000 in April, up 3.1% from the revised March figure of 829,000, and single-family housing starts totaled 846,000, up 1.6% from a revised March figure of 833,000.
The number of housing completions in April totaled 1,375,000, up 1.2% from the April 2022 rate of 1,361,000 and down 10.4% from the revised March estimate of 1,534,000. There were 971,000 single-family homes completed in April, compared to 1,039,000 in March, a 6.5% decline.
The numbers give the industry a view of activity in an area of the economy that is most responsible for driving furniture sales. While the year-over-year decreases may cause some concern for the market in general, there are some bright spots, particularly in some of the month-over-month gains indicating a slight rebound at least in terms of building permits and housing starts.
There are also some bright spots in activity by region, which could help boost the prospects of retailers in those parts of the country.
In the Northeast, there were 113,000 building permits issued in April, down 29.4% from the 160,000 issued in April 2022 and down 23.6% from the 148,000 issued in March. In the same region, there were 131,000 housing starts, down 2.2% from the 134,000 started in April 2022 and down 23.4% from the 171,000 in March. There were 113,000 units completed in April, up 15.3% from the 322,000 completed in April 2022 and down 14.4% from the 132,000 completed in March.
In the Midwest, there were 173,000 building permits issued, down 28.5% from the 242,000 issued in April 2022 and down 15.2% from the 204,000 issued in March. In the same region, there were 171,000 units started, down 21.9% from the 219,000 issued in April 2022, but up 32.6% from the 129,000 issued in March. There were 205,000 units completed in the Midwest, up 17.8% from the 174,000 completed in April 2022 and down 4.7% from the 215,000 completed in March.
In the South, there were 801,000 building permits issued in April, down 17.8% from the 975,000 issued in April 2022, but up 4.3% from the 768,000 issued in March. There were 784,000 units started, down 23.7% from the 1.03 million started in April 2022 and down 6.3% from the 837,000 started in March. There were 750,000 housing units completed in April, up .4% from the 747,000 completed in April 2022 and down 2.1% from the 766,000 completed in March.
In the West, there were 329,000 building permits issued, down 21.3% compared to the 418,000 issued in April 2022, but up 3.8% from the 317,000 issued in March. There were 315,000 units started, down 25.5% from the 423,000 started in April 2022 but up 34.6% from the 234,000 started in March. The number of units completed in the West totaled 307,000 in April, down 10.2% from the 342,000 completed in April 2022, and down 27.1% from the 421,000 completed in March.
