Housing Starts Fall – Housing Permits Rise

housing market

The Commerce Department reported today that housing starts fell 4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 units.  A number of analysts  had expected housing starts to rise to 580,000 units. November’s housing starts were revised upwards to 580,000 units from the previously reported 574,000 units. It is thought the drop in housing starts was likely the result of unusually cold weather last month.

Starts for single-family homes fell 6.9 percent last month to an annual rate of 456,000 units after rising 4.0 percent in November. The multifamily housing segment rose 12.2 percent to a 101,000 unit annual pace, after surging 69.8 percent in November.

New building permits rose 10.9 percent to 653,000 units last month, the highest since October 2008.  For the whole of 2009, permits dropped 36.9 percent.

Del Mar San Diego housing