U.S. housing starts fell 2.7 pct in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1620000 units the Commerce Department said. In April housing starts fell a revised 3.8 pct to 1665000 units. The department previously said they fell 2.9 pct. The rate at which permits were issued for future construction fell in May by 7.6 pct to a seasonally adjusted 1477000 units after falling 7.0 pct to 1598000 units in April. The department said May housing starts were at the lowest annual rate since December 1984 when starts were at a seasonally adjusted 1612000 units. The permits total was the lowest for any month since March 1983 when 1475000 permits were issued. Before seasonal adjustment May housing starts fell to 159600 units from 161600 units in April. Permits before adjustment fell to 134800 units in May from 157000 in April. The department said single-family housing starts fell in May by 7.6 pct to 1129000 units from 1222000 units in April. The May decline followed a slight 0.9 pct rise in single-family starts in April. Starts for multi-family units rose 10.8 pct in May to 491000 units after declining in April by 14.6 pct to 443000 units. Permits for single-family homes in May were down 5.0 pct to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1005000 units from 1058000 units in April. The decline followed a 8.0 pct drop in single-family permits in April. Permits for multi-family units fell in May by 12.6 pct to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 472000 units from 540000 units in April. The May decline came after a 5.1 pct drop in the seasonally adjusted annual rate of permits for multi-family units in April.
U.S. HOUSING STARTS FELL 2.7 PCT IN MAY