Housing Starts Hit Lowest Rate since Recession

Builders began work on new homes and apartments at the lowest rate in a year and a half in October mainly because of a 44 percent drop in starts on multifamily homes, the Commerce Department said.

Housing is a top driver of freight transportation volume for construction materials and for furniture and home furnishings. PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions, a sister company of The Journal of Commerce, reports that imports of furniture and furnishings have slumped with weak demand for housing.

By The Numbers: U.S. Rail Cargo.

Starts on single-family homes slipped 1.1 percent from September while overall housing starts fell 11.7 percent to an annual rate of 519,000, the lowest level since 477,000 in April 2009, near the bottom of the recession. Economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated a starts rate in October of 600,000.

Permit applications for new building edged up to 550,000 last month from an upwardly revised 547,000 in September, potentially a sign that builders hope for better times ahead.

Weakness in housing markets comes despite mortgage rates near record lows. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its index of applications to buy a home has dropped 38 percent from April, when government incentives boosted sales.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.