Housing starts for March hit an annualized rate of 626,000, which is more than the rate of 610,000 that had been expected. Starts for the prior month were revised upward to reflect an annualized rate of 616,000, which means that annualized housing starts for March increased 1.6% month-over-month. Building permits for March came in at an annualized rate of 685,000, which is above the rate of 625,000 that had been expected. The March rate is up 7.5% month-over-month from the upwardly revised annual rate of 637,000 for the prior month