Housing Starts Sink 14.2%; Permits Decline 8.1%

WASHINGTON — U.S. December housing starts fell 14.2% to 1.006 million units and permits fell 8.1% to 1.068 million units, suggesting there will not be a rebound in housing any time soon.

Starts were off 2.9% for single-families to 794,000 units in December, and down 4.1% for multifamilies, which includes a 41.1% drop for five-plus units to 196,000, its lowest since July 1994. Starts fell in all regions.

Permits also fell across all categories and most regions. An exception was the Northeast, at plus-1.6% in overall permits.

This is a dismal performance for housing, which appears to be in a free-fall.

For all of 2007, starts were off 24.8%, with most of the decline in single-family starts. Starts fell 12.9% in 2006.

The last time there was a string of drops in housing starts was 1987 through 1991, an unsettled period for construction and home buying when values stagnated in key cities.

— Market News International

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