The monthly
report on new residential construction from the Commerce Department showed on Friday
that housing starts fell by 0.5 per cent m-o-m in September to a seasonally
adjusted annual pace of 1.354 million, while building permits declined by 2.9 per cent m-o-m to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.428 million.
Economists had predicted
housing starts of 1.350 million units for September and building permits of 1.460
million units.
Data for August
was revised to show homebuilding increasing
at a pace of 1.361 million units, instead of growing at a rate of 1.356 million
units as originally announced.
According to
the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market,
rose by 0.3 per cent m-o-m in September, while approvals for the
multi-family homes segment (includes 2 to 4 and 5 or more housing units) tumbled
by 8.9 per cent m-o-m.
In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family
homes jumped by 2.7 per cent m-o-m in September, while multi-unit starts dropped
by 4.5 per cent m-o-m.