Construction of U.S. homes fell to a 17-year low in March, according to CNNMoney.com, which is a much steeper than expected drop, according to a government report released Wednesday. Privately-owned housing fell to a seasonally adjusted 947,000 annual rate in March, according to the Commerce Department. The rate was down 11.9% from February's revised reading of 1.07 million and 36% lower than March of 2007. Economists were expecting housing to decline to 1.01 million, according to consensus estimates compiled by Briefing.com. Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with the research firm Weiss Research, reports, "These figures confirm that the housing market is still groping for a bottom. As painful as these numbers are, in the short term, they are exactly what we need for long-term growth." New construction of single-family homes, considered the core of the housing market, were at a rate of 680,000, or 5.7% below last month's number. Single-family housing starts have not been this low since May 1980.
For more information, see http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/16/news/economy/housing_starts_march/index.htm?postversion=2008041609.
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