SHARP FALL IN US HOME CONSTRUCTION

WASHINGTON: Home building in the United States slowed sharply in December after the rebound from latesummer hurricanes and as cold weather blanketed much of the country, according to data released Thursday.

The slowdown affected all regions and was felt most keenly in the important single- family sector, which saw its biggest monthly decline in nearly three years, according to the Commerce Department’s monthly report.

But the supply of housing in the pipeline held steady, as permits for new construction were virtually unchanged from November, and rose for single- family homes for the fourth straight month.

Housing starts fell 8.2 percent in the final month of 2017 to an annual rate of 1.2 million units, seasonally adjusted, the biggest drop since November 2016. The decline put December starts six percent below the same month a year earlier.

The result was far worse than analyst expected, as the consensus was for a decrease of only 1.5 percent.

Analysts say the housing market is tight, with labor shortages and rising input costs holding construction down, driving up prices and making it hard for But they also caution against reading too much into one month’s data.

Commerce Department officials warn that home construction numbers for a singlemonth can be volatile and that it may take as much as six months to establish a trend.

Despite the decline last month, US home construction in 2017 advanced at its fastest rate since the housing bubble of 2007.

Looking ahead to 2018

“The latest decline in the volatile housing starts data is disappointing, but surely not economist at the National Association of Realtors, said in a statement.

“Given that the sales for both new and existing homes sold briskly throughout last year and at notably higher prices, housing starts should easily surpass 1.3 million in 2018.”

The number of construction permits issued held steady at an annual rate of 1.3 million units, marginally above an analyst consensus forecast.

Single- family permits increased for the fourth straight month, hitting the highest level since August 2007.

But some of the declines were in the double digits. Single- family housing starts fell nearly 12 percent from November to an annual rate of 836,000, the largest onemonth decline since February 2015.

In the South, construction of single- family homes fell 16.6 percent, the biggest drop since June 2014, and in the wintery Northeast, starts fell a whopping 24.2 percent.

But the overall rate of new housing construction started was still higher than the summer when Hurricanes Irma and Harvey struck the southern United States in August and September and analysts said recent numbers pointed to continued increases in 2018.