Construction of U.S. single-family houses in April dropped to the lowest level in 17 years, even as building of condominiums and townhouses rebounded, the U.S. Commerce Department said today.

Builders broke ground on 692,000 single-family homes at an annual rate, the fewest since January 1991. Total housing starts jumped 8.2 percent to slightly more than 1 million as construction of multifamily units rose 36 percent following a 35 percent drop in March, Bloomberg reported.

“You cannot take the headline starts number seriously because of the increase in the multifamily number,” Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y, told Bloomberg. “The trends are horrific, he said, because “why would you spend money to buy a depreciating asset?”

Lower prices and other incentives have yet to revive demand for houses, indicating builders will need to come up with even more discounts to attract buyers. Stricter lending rules, job losses and growing pessimism about the economy signal sales will not rebound quickly, according to Bloomberg.