The US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced Tuesday that privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were 551,000 units, seasonally adjusted-4 percent (±1.1percent) below building permit authorizations in March. April 2011 building permits are also 12.8 percent (±1.2 percent) below April 2010 authorizations.
The number of housing starts dropped in April as well to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000-10.6 percent (±13 percent) below housing starts in March and 23.9 percent (±7 percent) below housing starts in April 2010.