April Housing Starts: Housing Starts Slowly Rising this Spring

• Housing starts increased to 1.40 million in April, up 2.2% from revised March 2023 figures but down 22.3% from April 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 
• Single family housing starts increased to 846,000 in April, up 1.6% from March and down 27.9% from a year ago. 
• Housing permits issued in April were down 1.5% from March and down 21.1% from a year ago, to 1.42 million (SAAR). 
• 1.38 million (SAAR) homes were completed in April, down 10.4% from March but up 1.0% year-over-year. 

What happened: Housing starts increased slightly in April, but are still down from a year ago. Housing permits decreased in April from March, and are down from a year ago. 

What it means: Housing starts and permits for single-family homes both gained some traction in April from March along with this boost in sentiment, but these increases are slight. Compared to the building boom in 2021 and 2022 however, new construction has slowed considerably and is just starting to build back up this spring. However, the permits pulled and units started a year ago are making their way to the market now with completions up over last year, adding some new inventory to the market. 

What Zillow Senior Economist Nicole Bachaud thinks: Because of a lack of inventory of existing homes, newly built homes will continue to be a big part of prospective buyers’ search for the foreseeable future. The good news is that home builder sentiment increased in April to positive territory for the first time since last summer, likely thanks to the low inventory of existing homes on the market meeting with spring home shopping demand. With renewed energy running through the spring housing market, hopefully home building activity will continue  on an upward trajectory to add vital inventory when it’s needed the most.