Some manufacturing material problems surfaced, but most inputs remained generally available. Most plants were trimming inventories and plan to continue reducing stock levels into the summer. There were also reports that many firms were cutting back on large capital spending projects this year. Real Estate and Construction Residential construction activity rose slightly in March, while commercial building was flat. Housing starts in most of the district edged up from February but were largely unchanged from a year ago.
Most builders expect residential construction activity to edge up further in coming months.
In some markets, however, sales of new and existing homes remained weak and inventories of unsold homes continued to build. Mortgage demand remained strong, primarily due to heavy refinancing activity. Lenders expect this refinancing activity to continue into the summer. Commercial construction activity was flat. The pace of commercial sales and leasing activity fell somewhat, pushing vacancy rates up slightly.