The U.S. Census Bureau reported new residential building permits were up 0.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted 1.873M. New residential building permits are running 6.7% above the March 2021 level. Single-family permits were down 4.8% from a revised February figure of 1.205M. Building permits increased in both the Northeast (+11.1%) and Midwest (+2.8%), while the South (-0.1%) and West (-3.5%), both saw decreases. Single-family housing completions came in at 1.303, 4.5%, below February’s reading. Housing starts posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.793M, a 0.3% above February’s revised 1.788M, and up 3.9 % over March 2021. Single-family housing starts came in at a rate of 1.20M, down 1.7% from February’s 1.221M.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 2.7% in March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.77M, down 4.5% as compared to March 2021. Home sales have now dropped for two consecutive months. Sales of single-family homes fell to a 5.13M annual rate (-3.8% Y/Y) and existing condo sales dropped to a 640K annual rate (-9.9% Y/Y). Total housing inventory reported in at 950K, up 11.8% over February’s inventory (-9.5% Y/Y). Properties typically remained on the market for 17 days, down from 18 February. Eighty-seven percent of the homes sold in March 2022 were on the market for less than a month. The median sales price increased to $375,300 (+15.0% Y/Y). The median existing single-family home price was $382,000 in March (+15.2% Y/Y) while existing condo price was $322,000 (+11.9% Y/Y). Regionally the West held steady in existing-home sales while the other regions dipped in the Northeast (-2.9%), Midwest (-4.5%), and the South (-3.0%).

The US Energy Information Administration reported that US commercial crude oil stockpiles decreased by 8.0M barrels to 413.7M barrels (15% above the five-year average) for the week ending April 15th. Crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.7M barrels per day, an increase of 194K barrels per day as compared to the previous week’s average. Gasoline inventories decreased by 0.8M barrels (3% below the five-year average), and distillate inventories decreased by 2.7M barrels (20% below the five-year average). Refineries operated at 91.0% of their operable capacity, as gasoline production increased averaging 9.8M barrels per day. Crude oil imports came in at 5.8M barrels per day, a decrease of 159K barrels per day as compared to the previous week. Crude oil imports averaged about 6.1M barrels per day over the last four weeks, 3.1% more than the same period last year. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 8.1M barrels last week.