FX.co ★ US Housing Starts Fall to 5-Year Low

In the United States, housing starts decreased by 4.6% compared to the previous month, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.246 million units. This figure represents the lowest level observed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had significantly impacted housing starts in the second quarter of 2020. The decline was primarily driven by a 25.9% reduction in constructions of housing units with five or more units, totaling 347,000. This downturn overshadowed the 5.4% rise in single-unit housing starts, which reached 874,000. Regionally, the most significant drop occurred in the West, with a decline of 21.9% to 243,000 units, and a modest decrease was noted in the Northeast, down 0.6% to 154,000 units. These losses were somewhat balanced by increases in the South, which rose by 1.2% to 650,000 units, and the Midwest, which experienced a 0.5% rise to 199,000 units.