Housing starts declined 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 million, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development announced. Compared with November 2021, housing starts were down 16.4%.
Single-family housing starts were at their lowest level since May 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Builders have faced rising building material costs and supply chain bottlenecks throughout the year, NAHB noted.
Regionally, month-over-month, housing starts fell 18.6% in the Northeast and 6.5% in the Midwest. Housing starts rose 01.% and 8.3% in the South and West, respectively.
Building permits plunged 11.2% in November to a rate of 1.5 million, a 22.4% drop compared with November 2021.
Housing completions increased 10.8% from October and rose 6.0% compared with November 2021.
