New Home Starts in U.S. Down 9 Percent in February

According to a new report from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, total housing starts fell 8.7 percent in February 2019 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units from an upwardly revised reading in January 2019. The February reading of 1.16 million is the number of housing units builders would begin if they kept this pace for the next 12 months. Within this overall number, single-family starts fell 17 percent to 805,000 units following an unusually high reading of 970,000 units in January. Meanwhile, the multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 17.8 percent to 357,000.