Housing Permits, Starts, Fell in December

Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2009--Housing permits and starts both fell to record lows in December, according to a Commerce Department report released Thursday.

The government said housing permits fell 10.7% from the prior month to an annual rate of 549,000 in December, while starts were down 15.5% from November to an annual rate of 550,000.

Both measures were at the lowest levels since the government started tracking the data in 1959.

The reports also came in much worse than expected.

Housing starts decreased 15.5% to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 annual rate compared to the prior month, after dropping 15.1% in November to 651,000. Originally, Commerce reported November starts fell 18.9% to 625,000.

For 2008, starts totaled 904,300 on an unadjusted basis, falling from 1.355 million in 2007. It marked a new low, shatterring the previous record of 1.014 million set in 1991.

The December decrease of 15.5% was much bigger than Wall Street expected. Economists  forecast a 4.0% drop to an annual rate of 600,000.