Housing Starts Dip

Single-family housing starts edged down 0.6% in April, but construction activity was still at a historically high rate.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that single-family starts declined from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.69 million in March to 1.61 million in April. Economists at the National Association of Home Builders say they expect strong new-home sales in May and June. And they don't believe rising mortgage rates will take the punch out of this market until later this year. "We won't see the negative effects building up until later," NAHB economist Michael Carliner said. Meanwhile, builders are telling the association that customers are jumping off the fence because they see rates moving up. In April, 30-year mortgage rates were below 6% until the last week of the month.