Single-family starts, the largest segment of the market fell 0.5 percent to 856 thousand and the volatile multi-family segment slumped 17.1 percent to 287 thousand. Starts went down in the Northeast (-15.7 percent to 129 thousand); the Midwest (-15.2 percent to 179 thousand) and the West (-1.6 percent to 315 thousand) but rose 0.6 percent to 532 thousand in the South.
Building permits dropped 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,223 thousand, compared to market expectations of a 2 percent drop. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more declined by 12.1 percent to 377 thousand while single-family permits were unchanged at 811 thousand. Among regions, building permits fell in the Midwest (-17.4 percent to 171 thousand), the West (-7.9 percent to 315 thousand) and the South (-1.4 percent to 613 thousand), but rose in the Northeast (19.2 percent to 124 thousand).