Housing starts fell 18.9 percent in month

Housing market indicators fell sharply in November with declines in housing starts and permits issued, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Although project completions rose slightly, privately owned housing starts fell 18.9 percent the month, the department reported Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000 starts was well below the revised October rate of 771,000 starts and 47 percent below November 2007, when 1,179,000 homes were started, the report said.

Building permits issued in November were 15.6 percent below October’s revised rate of 730,000 permits issued and 48.1 percent below November 2007, when 1,187,000 permits were issued, the report said.

Housing completions were up 3.3 percent from October, but down 22.8 percent from a year ago.

In the month, 1,084,000 privately owned homes were completed, compared with 1,049,000 completed in October. In November 2007, 1,404,000 private home projects were completed, the report said.