Housing activity turned higher in March

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- New U.S. home construction activity rose modestly in March compared with February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

At an annual rate, there were an estimated 549,000 privately owned housing starts in the month, 7.2 percent above February's revised estimate 512,000.

Compared to a year earlier, however, building starts dropped 13.4 percent, the department said.

Commerce said there were 594,000 housing permits issued in March, 11.2 percent above February's estimate and 13.3 percent below March 2010.

In March, 509,000 privately owned housing projects were completed, 14.2 percent below February's estimate of 593,000 and 20.8 percent below March 2010, when 643,000 home project completions were recorded on an annual basis.