| “On the financing front, mortgage rates have risen from their March lows but remain quite favorable on a historical basis,” Seiders said. "Furthermore, stronger growth in jobs and income is supporting housing demand, and that pattern should continue throughout the year.” Single-family housing starts decreased 0.6% to a pace of 1.610 million units for April. This was 18.1% ahead of activity in April of 2003. Builders were breaking ground at a yearly rate of 359,000 multifamily housing units last month, an 8.4% decline from April but a 31% improvement over activity in April a year earlier. The pace of construction of new homes and apartments was up in all regions of the country, save for the West, which registered a 13.7% decline. “Buyer demand is strong, inventories of unsold houses are lean and there’s a sizeable backlog of unused building permits,” said Seiders. “This bodes well for housing production in the coming months.” | 
