US Housing Starts Slump

Source : The Straits Times, May 19, 2009

US home building starts, permits fall to record lows

WASHINGTON - US HOUSING starts and building permits slumped in April to record lows, highlighting the crisis in the real-estate sector as the economy struggles with recession, government data showed on Tuesday.

Housing starts plunged 12.8 per cent from March, to 458,000 units. -- PHOTO: AFP

The number of construction permits on new US homes fell to an annual rate of 494,000, a decline of 3.3 per cent from March, the Commerce Department reported in seasonally adjusted data.

The pace was the lowest since the data began to be tracked in 1960 and eclipsed the prior record set in March of a revised 511,000 permits.

The April decline surprised most analysts, who had expected a rebound in the indicator of the future direction of the housing market, to 530,000 permits.

Housing starts plunged 12.8 per cent from March, to 458,000 units, the lowest level since that data began to be tracked in 1959. -- AFP