U.S. homebuilding soars in March

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that March housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,739,000. That was 19.4 percent above the revised February estimate of 1,457,000 and is 37 percent above the March 2020 rate of 1,269,000. The SAAR of building permits for the month was 1,766,000, up 2.7 percent from February’s revised rate of 1,720,000 and 30.2 percent from last March’s 1,356,000.