The numbers: Construction of new homes fell 4.3% in December, as home builders scaled back new projects.
So-called housing starts fell to 1.46 million annual pace from 1.53 million in November, the government said Thursday. That’s how many houses would be built over an entire year if construction took place at the same rate in every month as it did in December.
The data exceeded expectations on Wall Street, where the expected rate was 1.43 million. The numbers are seasonally adjusted.
Single-family construction was down in December, while multi-family ticked up.
Even though the December numbers show a drop in new housing units being constructed, in a more recent survey of builders in January, they were more upbeat about future sales of new homes, as mortgage rates fall.Â
Building permits, a sign of future construction, rose 1.9% to a 1.5 million rate.
Market reaction: U.S. stocks
DJIA
SPX
were down early Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
was over 4%.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
