Another Sign of a Slowdown

January 23, 2006–Signs of a housing slowdown intensified as home construction fell sharply last month, and a deep-discount deal offered by a major home builder in one of its pricier markets suggested the industry may be feeling some anxiety…The Commerce Department reported yesterday that U.S. housing starts fell 8.9% in December to an annual rate of 1.933 million units from November’s 2.121 million units. The drop may have been at least partly weather-related. However, applications for building permits also fell, declining 4.4% to 2.068 million units from 2.163 million in November. Building permits, which don’t fluctuate with the weather, are considered a dependable indicator of future construction activity. Last month’s decline in home construction was led by a 12.3% plunge in starts for single-family homes, which fell to an annual rate of 1.577 million. “As we have been talking about for some time, the market is slowing,” said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Slowing is not the same as reversing course,” he added, “It’s still a pretty big number.”
Drop in Housing Starts Underlines Slowdown [WSJ]