Housing Starts Fall to 17-Year Low

New home construction fell to a 17-year low in July, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The 11% decline to an annual rate of 965,000 units was the lowest since March 1991, and followed a 1.084 million rate the previous month.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, fell 18% to an annual pace of 937,000 units. Construction of single-family homes fell 2.9%

Economists had forecast that housing starts would fall to an annual rate of 960,000 units, Bloomberg reported.