Housing starts fell in April

Housing starts dropped 2.8% in April to 1.465 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, rose 5.8% to 1.442 million units in April.

Single-family housing starts fell 9% to a rate of 930,000 units. Multifamily starts increased 14.3% to a rate of 529,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes fell 2.6% to a rate of 872,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes jumped 22.7% to a rate of 514,000 units.

The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.36% during the week ending May 15; it averaged 5.98% at the end of February.