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Friday, April 22, 2005

March housing starts: cause for worry?

So we all know March housing starts are down overall. One expert calls it a fluke -- "a head fake" -- but nevertheless, they're down.

So what about multifamily construction?

Delving into the fine print of Tuesday's Census Bureau release, it looks like the number of units started in privately owned buildings of five or more units declined from February to March by a whopping 31.6%, exceeding the overall decline of 17.6%. On the other hand, in the 5-or-more-units category, building permits fell only 2.6%; units permitted but not started actually rose 3.2%, units under ongoing construction fell 0.3%, and completions held exactly steady.

So is there a bubble? What do folks here think?
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