US housing starts decline in October to lowest level in 6 months

ANKARA

Housing starts in the US decreased by 10,000 in October, reaching its lowest level since April, according to a report by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday.

The economic indicator, which measures the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction during the month, came at 1.52 million in October.

While the market expectation for the figure was to come at almost 1.58 million, it was a 0.7% decrease from September's revised figure of almost 1.53 million, the report showed.

Annually, the leading indicator of the housing industry represented a 0.4% increase from October 2020 of 1.51 million.

Building permits, a key indicator for demand in the housing market, increased by 60,000 from the previous month to 1.65 million in October.

While the market estimate was 1.64 million, this was a 4% increase from September's revised rate of almost 1.59 million.

Annually, it represented a 3.4% gain from the October 2020 figure of 1.59 million.