Total housing starts fell to a 17-year low of 947,000, seasonally adjusted, in March 2008, representing a decline of 11.9 percent from the previous month. Both the single and multifamily sectors contributed to the overall contraction, the former falling to a 680,000 pace (down 5.2 percent) while apartment starts fell 25 percent to 267,000. Total Building permits fell 5.8 percent in March to a 927,000 unit pace, as the single family component contracted by 6.2 percent and multifamily was down by 5.0 percent.