The volatile multi-family segment declined 7.9 percent to 421 thousand while single-family housing starts, the largest segment of the market, rose 1.9 percent to 823 thousand. Starts declined in the Midwest (-17.9 percent to 188 thousamd) and the West (-41.3 percent to 225 thousand) but went up in the Northeast (55.4 percent to 143 tousand) and the South (20 percent to 690 thousand).
Building permits reached the highest since November of 2015. Figures for the previous month were revised up to 1228 thousand. Permits for the multi-family segment jumped 23.5 percent to 446 thousand, offsetting a 2.7 percent fall in the single-family segment (to 808 thousand) and a 16.2 percent drop in structures with 2 to 4 units (to 31 thousand). Permits rose in the Northeast (29.6 percent to 149 thousand), the South (9.9 percent to 642 thousand) and the Midwest (5.3 percent to 198 thousand) but fell 13.2 percent in the West (to 296 thousand).
Year-on-year, housing starts rose 10.5 percent and building permits went up 8.2 percent.