Housing Starts And Permits Fall To Lowest Levels On Record In October

摘要

In a month marked by extreme volatility and uncertainty on both Wall Street and Main Street, home builders responded to deteriorating conditions in the housing market by further reducing the pace of new construction and permit issuance in October to the lowest levels for any single month on record, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. Overall housing starts declined 4.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 791,000 units in October, which was the slowest pace recorded for any month since the government started keeping track in 1959. Single-family starts declined for a fifth consecutive month, by 3.3 percent to 531,000 units, which was the slowest pace since October of 1981. Multifamily starts fell 6.8 percent to 260,000 units.