US housing starts accelerate in April, but permits miss forecasts

Activity among US homebuilders accelerated last month but a lead indicator of activity came in slightly beneath market forecasts.

US housing starts jumped by 6.6% month-on-month in April to reach an annualised pace of 1.172m, according to the Department of Commerce.

Economists had forecast a rate of 1.125m.

The prior month’s reading was revised to show 1.099m starts, ahead of the 1.089m initially reported.

Housing permits, a lead indicator for starts, grew by 3.6% month-on-month, hitting an annualised rate of 1.116m (consensus: 1.135m).

A reading for the month of March was revised lower from an initial estimate of 1.086m to 1.077m.