Housing Starts Drop by 17.6%; Drop is Biggest in 14 Years

April 19, 2005 8:40 AM, EDT

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ousing starts fell 17.6% in March, the biggest drop in 14 years, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The decline to 1.837 million units at an annual rate was a bigger drop than economists had expected, Bloomberg reported.

Analysts had expected housing starts to fall to 2.09 million, from February’s 2.229 million level, which was the highest in 21 years, Bloomberg said.

Rising construction likely means more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. Also, in the case of home construction, dry van freight can see an increase in demand for the delivery of household appliances and furniture.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, dropped 4% to an annual rate of 2.023 million units. Permits were forecast to fall to 2.09 million from a previously reported 2.107, Bloomberg reported.

Housing starts fell in all four national regions, dropping 29% in the Midwest, 18% in the South, 12.7% in the West and 3.6% in the Northeast.