According to the Census Bureau's report, Housing Starts of single-family homes fell to 417,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annual basis. The figure marks a 9 percent drop-off from November, and is the lowest reading since May 2009.
The number of single-family Housing Starts increased in November, adding 30,000 units as compared to October.
Newspaper stories can be misleading sometimes -- especially with respect to real estate. We saw a terrific example of this Wednesday.
According to the Commerce Department, the number of single-family Housing Starts increased to 452,000 units in September, a 19,000 improvement over August.
Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high. It's no wonder home builders are confused.
A Housing Start is a new home on which construction has started and, over the last 6 months, home builders are averaging one half-million starts per month. This marks the highest 6-month average since 2008 and a reading one-fifth percent better from 12 months ago. Revisions to prior data have all been higher, too.