US housing starts fall short of expectations in March

LONDON (ShareCast) - Activity in the US housing market may be set to slow in the coming months, the latest data on activity in the sector revealed. US housing starts grew by 2% month-on-month in March to reach an annualised pace of 926,000.

That was far below the 1.04m expected by economists and followed a 15.3% decline in February.

The regional breakdown of activity suggests that weather played some role in restraining results. Activity in the Northeast and Midwest tumbled in February and rose sharply in March, economists at Daiwa explained.

The previous month's tally was revised higher to show 908,000 starts, in comparison to a preliminary estimate of 897,000.

Single-family housing starts expanded 4.4% month-on-month to 618,000.

Building permits fell at a 5.7% month-on-month clip over the month to reach 1,039m.