Housing Starts Drop to One-Year Low; Building Permits Jump 17%

Housing starts fell to a one-year low in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Starts dropped 4.3% to an annual rate of 529,000 units, the lowest since October 2009, from a revised 553,000 in November that was slightly lower than first reported.

The level was below economists’ projections of a 550,000 rate, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, jumped 17% to a 681,000 annual rate, led by an 81% gain in the Northeast.

Housing starts for the full year rose 6.1% from 2009.

Single-family home starts, which account for about 85% of the total, fell 9% to a 417,000 rate, the lowest since May 2009. Work on multifamily units, which is often volatile, rose 18% to 112,000.