Housing Starts Drop 2% in January
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sculpies/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million last month, a 2 percent drop from December, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Bad weather was partly to blame for the decline, especially in the Midwest.
“We saw a big drop in single family construction in the Midwest. And consistent with our builder confidence measure, that was almost certainly weather related,” Robert Dietz of the National Association of Home Builders said.
Despite the drop, Dietz said he expects a good year ahead.
“The January numbers were down but we consider ourselves in a good position because the weather-related impact should be temporary and the growth that we see going forward is good because we see demand-side growth and builders remain confident,” he said.
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