Housing starts at 17-year low

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for September 2008, which put in historical perspective, marks a 17-year statistical low.

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 786,000. This is 8.3 percent below the revised August rate of 857,000 and is 38.4 percent below the revised September 2007 estimate of 1,277,000. Single-family authorizations in September were at a rate of 532,000; this is 3.8 percent below the August figure of 553,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 225,000 in September.

HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 817,000. This is 6.3 percent below the revised August estimate of 872,000 and is 31.1 percent below the revised September 2007 rate of 1,185,000. Single-family housing starts in September were at a rate of 544,000; this is 12.0 percent below the August figure of 618,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 254,000. Your comment?