US housing starts plunge 11.3% in August

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – US housing starts plunged 11.3% in August from the prior month, according to data released Tuesday.

Housing starts, which measure the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, came in at 1.28 million in August, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The market forecast that privately‐owned housing starts in August would fall to 1,440 million, from the revised July figure of 1,447,000.

Building permits, a key indicator of demand in the market, surged 6.9% month-on-month to 1.543 million in August.