Housing Starts Reach a 17-Year Low

Housing Starts Reach a 17-Year Low

Housing starts fell 11 percent in July compared to June, their lowest level since January 1991, the U.S. Commerce Department reported yesterday.Permits for single-family homes fell 5.2 percent month-over-month and 41.4 percent compared to July 2007.Building permits, an indicator of construction plans, fell to an annualized pace of 937,000, 17.7 percent below June and 32.4 percent lower than in July 2007. "The housing market is in a deep recession, and it is getting worse," Global Insight economist Patrick Newport told clients in a conference call.Ken Goldstein, economist for The Conference Board, said the gloomy construction numbers might not be as bad as they look. "It's not good news, but it's not a catastrophe," he says. "We're seeing signs that housing is closer to bottoming than we were six months to a year ago."Source: USA Today, John Waggoner and Barbara Hagenbaugh (08/20/2008)

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