The number of housing permits issued nationwide fell to a 14-year low in October, although housing starts edged up slightly, according to the government’s latest reading on the state of the battered home building market released Tuesday reports CNNMoney.
Permits, a less weather-impacted measure of building strength that are used to gauge builders’ confidence in the market, fell to an annual pace of 1.18 million from 1.26 million in September. It’s the lowest seasonally-adjusted level of permits in a month since July 1993.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast permits would slip to only a 1.2 million rate. Starts edged up to an annual rate of 1.23 million from 1.19 million in September. Economists had also expected that number to fall to 1.18 million.
A cutback in the pace of home building in recent months has been a drag on the nation’s overall economy. But it is seen as a necessary step to work through a record glut of completed new homes available for sale on the market.
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