Housing starts fell 1.8% to 1.289 million units in November, according to Reuters. Economists had expected starts to climb to a rate of 1.343 million units.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, rose 6.1% to 1.505 million units in November.
Single-family housing starts rose 6.4% to a rate of 1.011 million units. Multifamily starts fell 24.1% to a rate of 264,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes rose 0.1% to a rate of 972,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes rose 22.1% to a rate of 481,000 units.
The number of houses approved for construction that were yet to be started rose 6.1% to 295,000 units. Overall housing completions decreased 1.9% to a rate of 1.601 million units.
