Bill McBride notes in his CalculatedRisk newsletter that U.S. Census Bureau data that privately-owned housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,360,000 in April, a 5.7% increase from March’s revised estimate of 1,287,000. However, this rate was 0.6% lower than April 2023’s rate of 1,368,000. Single-family housing starts in April totaled 1,031,000, a 0.4% decrease from March’s revised figure of 1,035,000. Meanwhile, units in buildings with five units or more saw a rate of 322,000 in April.