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The number of housing starts fell in March, as the housing market remains sluggish, according to The Washington Examiner.

What’s going on: New residential construction activity declined 0.8%, to 1,420,000 units in March from 1,432,000 units at the annual rate in February.

• “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.” 
• New housing permits, which are seen as a proxy for future residential construction, decreased 8.8% in March.

The details: While single-family housing starts increased 2.7%—to 861,000 units in March from 838,000 units in February, a four-month high—multi-family construction pulled the overall number lower.

• Multi-family home construction was down 5.9%, to 559,000 units from 594,000.

In related news: While homebuilder confidence in the housing market inched up in April, it remained negative overall for the ninth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Home Builder/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday.