The numbers: Construction of new U.S. homes fell 14.8% in January, as home builders scaled back new projects.
Housing starts fell to a 1.33 million annual pace from 1.56 million in December, the government said Friday. That’s how many houses would be built over an entire year if construction took place at the same rate every month as it did in January.
Housing starts fell to the lowest level since August 2023.
The data fell short of expectations on Wall Street, where the expected rate was 1.45 million. The numbers are seasonally adjusted.
Single-family and multi-family construction fell in January, with the latter registering a nearly 36% drop.
But in a more recent survey of builders in January, builders were upbeat about future sales of new homes, and are optimistic about demand as they expect rates to fall through the rest of the year.
Building permits, a sign of future construction, fell 1.5% to a 1.47 million rate.
Market reaction: U.S. stocks
DJIA
SPX
were up/down early Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
was over/under 4%.
