U.S. housing starts fall 2.6 percent

Washington -- U.S. housing starts fell 2.6 percent after tumbling a downwardly adjusted 6.9 percent the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

August's fall to a seasonally adjusted 1.331 million annual units followed July's 1.367 million, which the department originally reported at 1.381 million, down 6.1 percent.

The figures mark housing starts' lowest level since June 1995 and are 19.1 percent below August 2006's level, the department said.

Single-family starts fell 7.1 percent from July to 988,000, their lowest since March 1993, the department said.

Construction of housing with two or more units increased 12.8 percent to 343,000, with groundbreakings of homes with five or more units up 16.5 percent to 311,000, the department said.

Building permits, indicating future activity, tumbled 5.9 percent to a 1.307 million annual rate -- 24.5 percent below August 2006's 1.731 million, the department said.

Regionally, housing starts rose 11.4 percent in the South and 4.2 percent in the Midwest and fell 37.7 percent in the Northeast and 18.4 percent in the West.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.