The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday on 3% fall in November of construction on new homes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000, led by declines in the West and Northeast, still the starts gained 22% over the last 12 months. UD home starts fell 19.2% in the West and 5.2% in the Northeast, while rising 2.9% in the South and 3.3% in the Midwest.
The U.S. starts rate for October was revised to 888,000 from a prior estimate of 894,000. Still, current rates remain far below a bubble peak of almost 2.3 million in 2006.
Meanwhile, building permits, a sign of future demand, rose 3.6% in November to a rate of 899,000. Permits for single-family homes ticked down 0.2% to a rate of 565,000, while permits for structures with at least two units rose 10.6% to a rate of 334,000.