US housing starts fall by 3.1pc in October

(Sharecast News) - US housing starts fell by 3.1% in October, according to the Census Bureau, missing expectations for a reading of 1.33m. Housing starts fell from a downwardly revised 1.35m in September to 1.31m last month as construction activity fell sharply across the American south as a result of hurricane activity throughout the period.

Single family home starts plunged 6.9% to 970,000, while starts for houses with five units or more were up by 9.8% to 326,000.

Building permits fell by 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 1.41m, below market expectations for a reading of 1.43m. Approvals of units in buildings with five units or more tumbled by 3% to 393,000 and single-family authorisations went up by 0.5% to 968,000.









Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com