While single-family housing starts declined a relatively modest 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 794,000 units in December, multi-family housing starts suffered a double-digit decrease that dragged down total housing starts for the month to a 14.2 percent decline, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department. This sharp reduction in the volatile multi-family sector contributed to a drop in the monthly nationwide housing rate to one million units, the lowest rate since May 1991.

“The numbers for single-family housing starts are right on the money in terms of what we’ve been forecasting and what our members have told us in recent surveys,” said Brian Catalde, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from El Segundo, Calif. “Builders are acting appropriately to manage the number of units coming on the market and help restore better balance to the supply-demand equation.”

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