![\"housing\"](\"http:\/\/static.businessinsider.com\/image\/0ab9b91469832d48161dfa00-400-\/housing.jpg\")
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March building permits: 685,000 seasonally-adjusted vs. 625,00 expected.<\/p>\n
March new housing starts: 626,000 seasonally-adjusted vs. 610,000 expected.<\/p>\n
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The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2010:<\/p>\n
BUILDING PERMITS<\/p>\n
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. This is 7.5 percent (±1.3%) above the revised February rate of 637,000 and is 34.1 percent (±2.6%) above the March 2009 estimate of 511,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 543,000; this is 5.6 percent (±1.5%) above the revised February figure of 514,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 120,000 in March.<\/p>\n
HOUSING STARTS<\/p>\n
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000. This is 1.6 percent (±15.2%)* above the revised February estimate of 616,000 and is 20.2 percent (±15.3%) above the March 2009 rate of 521,000.<\/p>\n
Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 531,000; this is 0.9 percent (±12.1%)* below the revised February figure of 536,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 88,000.<\/p>\n