Housing Starts Sag 9% in September

The U.S. Census Bureau said privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,047,000, 9% below the revised August estimate of 1,150,000 and 11.9% below the Sept. 2015 rate of 1,189,000. Single-family housing starts in September were at a rate of 783,000, 8.1% above the revised August figure of 724,000.

Kristin Reynolds a U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight, said in a press release analyzing the September data, “New home building is being constrained by several factors, including the lack of available skilled labor, a shortage of developed lots, increased regulations for land development, and more stringent lending standards. Residential investment is likely to be a drag on GDP growth in the third quarter.”