New U.S. home construction continued to decline in October as builders contend with a sharp retrenchment in housing demand.
Residential starts decreased 4.2% last month to a 1.43 million annualized rate after an upward revision
Applications to build, a proxy for future construction, fell to an annualized 1.53 million units. Permits for construction of one-family homes also dropped to the lowest since the early months of the pandemic.
The median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 1.41 million pace of residential starts and 1.51 million pace for total permits.
The housing market has so far borne the brunt of the Federal Reserve's inflation fight, with rapid interest-rate hikes driving a surge in borrowing costs. High mortgage rates have
Homebuilder sentiment has fallen every month this year, dropping in November to the lowest level in a decade outside the onset of the pandemic. And the pullback in demand has also led builders to increasingly cut prices and offer a variety of incentives to lure more buyers into the marketplace.
Both permits and starts for multi-family units eased slightly from the prior month.
Groundbreaking fell in three of four regions, with the South posting the only increase. Construction of single-family dwellings dropped nationwide.
Existing-home sales for October will be released Friday, followed by data on new-home purchases next week.
A separate report Thursday showed applications for U.S. unemployment insurance unexpectedly fell slightly last week and remained near historic lows.
