Housing Starts, Especially MF, Still Weak

Single-family housing starts fell 2% in September from the level of the previous month while multifamily starts plunged 36%, according to government figures released Wednesday.Homebuilders broke ground on 963,000 single-family units (annualized), compared with 1.39 million units in September 2006, a decline of 31%. A research note put out by RBS Greenwich Capital says: "On the surface, today's headline reading looks to be disastrous. However, it was the volatile multi-family sector that was responsible for most of the decline in total starts in September. This category can swing wildly from one month to the next." Total starts (which include single-family and multifamily) fell to 1.191 million units, a 10% drop from the level recorded in August, and a 31% decline from that of a year earlier.