Privately owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000. This is 11.9 percent below the revised February estimate of 1.075 million and is 36.5 percent below the revised March 2007 rate of 1.491 million. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 680,000; this is 5.7 percent below the February figure of 721,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 247,000.

Privately owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.216 million. This is 2.7 percent below the revised February estimate of 1.25 million and is 24.5 percent below the revised March 2007 rate of 1.610 million. Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 944,000; this is 3.3 percent above the February figure of 914,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 258,000.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000. This is 5.8 percent below the revised February rate of 984,000 and is 40.9 percent below the revised March 2007 estimate of 1.569 million.

?EUR??,,????'??Home construction is probably going to continue to fall right through this year,?EUR??,,????'?? Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ?EUR??,,????'??While we see a bottoming in sales in 2008, we really don’t see an improvement until later 2009, early 2010 in home building.?EUR??,,????'??