Housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million, an 8.2 percent decrease compared with November’s rate of 1.29 million and 6 percent below the December 2016 rate of 1.27 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"A return to normal levels of housing production this month is expected after a very strong fall season," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz in a statement. "We saw a surge of housing activity in the South after hurricane-related delays, and now that region is returning to its positive growth trend."
Single-family starts fell 11.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 836,000 in December. Multifamily starts went up 1.4 percent to 356,000.
Combined single- and multifamily production fell 0.9 percent in the West, 2.2 percent in the Midwest, 4.3 percent in the Northeast and 14.2 percent in the South.
