US Housing Starts Fall to Lowest Level Since May 2020

Housing starts in the US fell in October to the lowest level since the onset of the pandemic as data delayed by last fall’s government shutdown showed builders continued to cut back amid still-high prices and mortgage rates.

New residential construction decreased 4.6% to an annual rate of 1.25 million homes in October, government figures released Friday showed. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg saw 1.33 million housing starts.

Starts of one-family homes rose 5.4% to an annualized 874,000 pace, though they remained near the lowest levels of the past two years.

The data indicate builders continued to ...