From the FINANCIAL TIMES:
New home construction in the US slumped in February, recording the biggest drop since 1984 in a sign that weakness continues to plague the real estate market.
Housing starts fell 22.5 per cent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 479,000, the commerce department said on Wednesday. The figure, a sharp reversal of January’s 14.6 per cent jump, came in well below analysts’ expectations and left starts down 20.8 per cent year-on-year.
“This is just another signal that the housing sector not only remains weak but in fact may be getting weaker,” said Patrick O’Keefe, director of economic research at JH Cohn. He cited homebuilders’ lack of confidence in the market, “significant” credit constraints and continued pressure from the high supply of foreclosed homes as reasons that developers are hesitant to break ground on new units…
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