RTRS: September housing starts fall to new 17-1/2 year low
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction starts on new homes fell to a new 17-1/2 year low in September as builders scaled back amid a worsening housing slump and growing turmoil in financial markets that helped pushed permits for new homes to a nearly 27-year low.
The Commerce Department reported on Friday that starts on new homes fell 6.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 817,000 units, their slowest pace since January 1991. This was well below the 880,000 rate that Wall Street economists polled by Reuters had expected.
The September rate of starts on single-family homes fell 12.0 percent to a 544,000-unit annual rate, the slowest pace since August 1982.
With falling home prices, soaring foreclosures and financial turmoil that was curtailing the availability for of mortgages for prospective home buyers, builders in September were clearly bracing for a deeper downturn. New applications for building permits fell 8.3 percent in September to an annual rate of 786,000.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
