Commerce: Housing Starts, Permits Fall Unexpectedly in December

The Commerce Department reports starts of new home construction dropped 2.5% last month to an annualized rate of 1.15 million units, while Wall Street expected a rise to 1.20 million units. Permits to build new homes, meanwhile, slipped 3.9% to an annualized rate of 1.23 million units, a smaller decline than the 1.20 million units expected.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said November’s starts were revised to a 1.8 million-unit rate from the initially reported 1.17 million-unit pace.

However, December was still the ninth straight month that starts came in above 1 million units, which is the longest period since 2007. Housing starts averaged 1.11 million units in 2015, also the highest since 2007 and up from 1.00 million units in 2014.

Building permits fell 3.9% to a 1.23 million-unit rate last month. The decline followed two months of larger-than-anticipated gains. Permits for the construction of single-family homes, which represents the vast majority of the market, increased 1.8% in December. Further, multi-family building permits tumbled 11.4%.