Housing starts plunge 17.2%, raising recession fears
Zachary Halaschak
The number of housing starts tumbled in March, an indication that the housing market is taking a hit and may be falling into a recession.
Housing starts measure the change in the number of new residential buildings that began construction. Starts fell 17.2% from March 2022 to this past month, according to a Tuesday report from the Census Bureau. They are now at 1.42 million. From February to March, they fell 0.8%.
Additionally, permits to build, which are seen as a proxy for future construction, decreased/increased by 8.8% in March.
Tuesday’s report comes as the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow spending across the economy by hiking interest rates has taken a major toll on the national housing market.
The rate on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage soared from just over 3% at the start of 2022 to over 7% in November. It has since drifted down following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to 6.27%.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/housing-starts-plunge-17-2-raising-recession-fears
