U.S. August Housing Starts Fell Six Percent

The Commerce Department said U.S. housing starts fell 6.0 percent in August to an annual pace of 1.665 million units, compared to a downwardly revised 1.772 million in July.

Compared to a year earlier, August housing starts were down 19.8 percent from the August 2005 pace of 2.075 million units. Permits for future groundbreaking, an indicator of builder confidence, fell 2.3 percent to a 1.722 million-unit annual pace, the lowest in four years.

The report came a day after an industry survey showed that home builder optimism sank for the eight straight month in September to its lowest level in more than 15-years. More...