Optimism that the housing slump had hit bottom was damaged Tuesday when the government reported that construction on new housing projects slowed to a record low pace in April. New construction of single-family homes and apartments plunged 12.8% to a record-low annual rate of 458,000, much weaker that the 519,000 rate expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The drop was caused by construction of multifamily housing, which fell 46.1% to a record low 78,000. This was the biggest drop since January 1994. Starts of single-family homes rose 2.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 368,000. Single-family starts have shown some stability in the past four months. Building permits for single-family homes rose 3.6% to 373,000. Starts are down 54.2% in the past year, while starts of single-family homes are down 45.6%. Meanwhile, total authorized building permits fell 3.3% in April to a record-low seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000. Single-family permits are down 42.3% in the past year. Housing completions rose 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 874,000. Completions are off 15% in the past year. The government cautions that housing data are volatile and subject to large sampling and other statistical errors. In most months, the government can't be sure whether starts increased or decreased. Large revisions of reported figures are common. On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders reported builder sentiment rose to its highest level since last September.

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