By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US housing starts dove 5.5% in May, plummeting to the lowest level since June 2020, according to data released Thursday.
Housing starts, which measure the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, stood at 1.277 million, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The market expectation of the figure was to come in at 1.37 million for a monthly gain of 0.7%.
The April figure, meanwhile, was revised down from 1.36 million to 1.352 million, or from a gain of 5.7% to an increase of 4.1%.
On an annual basis, housing starts in May were down 19.3%, compared to the same month of last year when they stood at 1.583 million.
Building permits, a key indicator of market demand, monthly decreased 3.8% to 1.386 million.
That figure also came in lower than expectations of 1.45 million, while the April figure was unrevised at 1.44 million for a monthly decline of 3%.
Annually, building permits were down 9.5% from the same month of 2023 when they stood at 1.532 million.