Housing starts fell 5.2% in September to 1.221 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Multifamily Dive.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, fell 0.2% to 1.4 million units in September.
Single-family housing starts fell 4.6% to a rate of 859,000 units. Multifamily starts fell 7.2% to a rate of 349,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes fell 4% to a rate of 845,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes rose 5.9% to a rate of 503,000 units.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.4% during the week ending Oct. 16; it averaged 5.98% at the end of February.
