New Housing Starts Fall For Second Month

New housing starts

The Commerce Department says housing starts dropped 5.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units, the lowest level since October.  It was the second straight month of decline in activity and was well below market expectations. Compared to June last year, starts were down 5.8%, the biggest decline since November.  Driving the June decline was a more than 20% drop in the volatile condominium and apartment market. Construction of single-family homes, the biggest part of the market, was down slightly by 0.7%.   Plus, May’s housing starts were previously reported as a 10.0% drop, but are now revised down to show a 14.9% decline. Read more