U.S. Home Construction |Plummeted in March

(CN) - Construction of new homes in the United States plummeted in March with every region showing market weakness except for the Northeast, the Commerce Department announced.

The agency said home construction fell 8.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.09 million units. It was the third decline in the past four months and means that residential construction is now at its slowest pace since Oct. 2015.

At the same time, applications for permits to build new homes an indicator of future activity dropped by 7.7 percent in March.

The overall drop of 8.8 percent is the largest one-month decline since a decline of 11.3 percent in October.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit