October Housing Starts Fall 12%

Housing starts fell 12% in October to the lowest level since a record low was set a year and a half ago, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Starts fell to an annual rate of 519,000 units, Commerce said, following a revised 588,000 rate in September. It was the lowest rate since a record low 477,000 units in April 2009.

The level was below economists’ decline of projections of a 598,000 rate from a previously reported 610,000, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 0.5% to a 550,000 annual rate, Commerce said. Economists had predicted permits would rise to a 568,000-unit rate.

Single-family home starts, which account for about 85% of starts, fell 1.1% to a 436,000 rate.

Work on multifamily units, which is often volatile, plunged 44% to 83,000, the lowest since February.