Highlights

Housing starts increased 2.6% in April from an upwardly revised 699,000 (from 654,000) in March to 717,000. The Briefing.com consensus pegged new starts at 680,000. The April level is nearly 30% higher than a year ago.

Key Factors

Housing starts have averaged 710,000 over the last six months and, notably, there has been very little volatility over those last six months. That means that warmer-than-normal weather conditions, which many economists concluded was the main catalyst for the recent housing starts growth, may have been overblown.
The details look promising for future growth.
Single-family homes increased from 481,000 in March to 492,000 in April. The more volatile multi-family construction increased by roughly the same amount, from 218,000 in March to 225,000 in April.
New homes under construction ticked up from 456,000 in March to 457,000 in April. While this was the smallest gain since bottoming in August 2011, the trend of improving construction numbers remained intact.

Housing starts are at extremely low levels, but the outlook is improving. For the first time since the peak of the housing bubble, the number of homes under construction have increased at a steady pace. There is now clear evidence that the housing sector is finally on a steady, upward trend.

Category	APR	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC
Starts	717K	699K	718K	720K	697K
1 Unit	492K	481K	470K	511K	520K
Multi Units	225K	218K	248K	209K	177K
Permits	715K	769K	707K	684K	701K