A substantial increase in permits pulled for apartments and condominiums was the only bright spot in February's housing construction numbers. A 24.3 percent jump in permits for multi-unit homes lifted the overall rate to 1.02 million, a 7.7 percent improvement despite a third consecutive month of declines for single-family home permits. Housing starts, still stymied by harsh weather, declined 0.2 percent from January to February.

Harsh weather continued to keep homebuilders off of new projects in February, as housing starts declined for the second consecutive month. Conversely, building permits, which indicate the viability of future construction, increased due to a surge in multi-unit applications.

Permits for residential projects increased 7.7 percent to a 1.02 million-unit pace in February, the most since October and the second-highest rate since the recession ended in 2009. Permits for multi-unit dwellings leaped 24.3 percent to a post-recession high of 407,000 in February, according to a March 18 report from the Commerce Department.

In contrast, single-family permits dropped for a third straight month, falling 1.8 percent to a 588,000 rate, the lowest in a year. Single-family permits have trended downward after flirting with a six-year high in November with a 641,000-unit rate.

Housing starts fell 0.2 percent to a 907,000-unit annualized rate in February, following an upwardly revised 909,000-unit pace in January. Wintry conditions also caused starts to slump 11 percent in January.

Work on single-family houses rose 0.3 percent to a 583,000 rate in February from 581,000 the prior month. Construction of multifamily projects such as condominiums and apartment buildings decreased 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 324,000.

New construction increased in the Midwest and South and tapered off in the Northeast and West. Starts jumped 34.5 percent in the Midwest in February after plunging 62 percent in the prior month.