Home starts drop to 17-year low

The housing crisis showed no signs of rebounding in September as construction of homes dropped to its slowest pace since early 1991, and building permits for new homes fell to their lowest level in almost 27 years. Data released from the Department of Commerce today showed that housing starts, which refer to construction of homes and apartments, slipped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 817,000 last month, down 6.3% from August and off 31.1% from September 2007. Construction of single-family homes fell to a rate of 544,000, down 12% from August and off 42% from a year earlier — the biggest one-year drop since August 1982. Also in September, the number of building permits issued fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 786,000, the lowest level since November 1981. The number of permits fell 8.3% from August and 38.4% from September 2007. Permits for single-family homes dropped to 532,000, down 3.8% from August and 38.9% from a year earlier.