U.S. starts, permits down in March

U.S. housing starts fell by 0.8 percent in March to an annualized rate of 1.42 million, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. That was 17.2 percent below the March 2022 rate but better than the 1.4 million forecast by economists in a Wall Street Journal survey. Residential permits for the month declined by 8.8 percent to a rate of 1.413 million, compared to an expected 4.9 percent drop.