Production of single-family homes edged upward in April as builders responded to improving conditions for new-homebuyers, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department. While overall starts fell 12.8 percent to a record-low seasonally adjusted annual pace of 458,000 units, the decline was entirely confined to the multi-family sector, where production fell 46 percent to a 90,000-unit pace for the month, while single-family starts posted a 2.8 percent gain to 368,000 units.
 
Single-family housing starts rose for a second consecutive month in April, posting a 2.8 percent gain to a 368,000-unit pace for the month. At the same time, issuance of single-family permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 3.6 percent to 373,000 units.  On the multifamily side, starts fell 46 percent to an all-time low 90,000-unit pace, while permits declined nearly 20 percent to 121,000 units.  Regionally, combined single-and multi-family housing starts declined across every part of the country except the West in April, where a 42.5 percent gain offset a nearly equivalent decline in the previous month. Starts fell 30.6 percent in the Northeast, 21.4 percent in the Midwest and 21.1 percent in the South.