US housing starts, building permits beat forecasts

18th Mar 2025 12:54

(Sharecast News) - The numbers of new houses being built in the United States came in higher than expected in February, along with the volume of permits authorising residential construction, according to data from the Census Bureau on Tuesday.

Housing starts surged by 11.2% over the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.50m, up from a revised 1.35m in January and well ahead of the 1.38m expected by a consensus of analysts.

Single-family housing starts rose 11.4% to 1.11m while multi-unit building starts jumped 12.1% to 370,000.

Starts increased strongly across the Northeast, South and West of the US, outweighing a sharp fall in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, building permits - closely watched as an indicator of future housing activity - fell by 1.2% in February to 1.46m, but still came in marginally above the 1.45m predicted by analysts.