The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday morning that new housing starts in January rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000. That was a decrease of 16% from the upwardly revised December rate of 1.05 million and a drop of 2% compared with the January 2013 rate of 983,000. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 950,000.

The seasonally adjusted rate of new building permits fell to 937,000, which is 5.4% below the revised December rate of 991,000 but 2.4% higher than the January 2013 rate of 915,000. The consensus estimate called for 995,000 new permits. The October number marked the year-to-date high.

Single-family housing starts fell to an annualized rate of 537,000 in January, down 15.9% from the revised December rate of 681,000.

Permits for new single-family homes fell 1.3% in January, to an adjusted annual rate of 602,000, from a revised total of 610,000 in December.

The December total was revised up by 51,000 new starts, which accounts for about half the January drop. The weather is going to get a good share of the blame for the other half of the decline. The important thing remains inventory, and that continues to rise slowly.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.