Housing starts fell in March with interest rates somewhat higher than expected last month as the latest inflation readings failed to show improvement. Builders are also still facing higher supply-side costs and tighter lending conditions. Overall housing starts decreased 14.7% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. …Within this overall number, single-family starts decreased 12.4% to a 1.02 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. Single-family starts are up 21.2% compared to a year ago. The three-month moving average is up to over 1.0 million starts, as charted below. …Single-family permits decreased 5.7% to a 973,000 unit rate but are up 17.4% compared to the previous year. Multifamily permits decreased 1.2% to an annualized 485,000 pace and are down 20.2% compared to March 2023.