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Privately owned housing starts fell sharply in October, declining despite predictions the number would rise, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.
Economists expected home starts to rise to 600,000 starts on an annual basis. But housing starts dropped to 529,000, a 10.6 percent decline from a month ago.
Construction firm starts for single family homes fell 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 476,000 compared to a month ago. Multiplex housing starts came in at 48,000, a drop of 30,000 from September.
Total project starts were down 30.7 percent from October 2008.
Commerce said permits issued, which predict housing starts one and two months down the road, fell 4 percent from September to October to an annual rate of 552,000.
Permits issued came in at 24.3 percent below the same month last year.
Completed housing projects rose slightly, up 1.9 percent from September, but down 29.9 percent from a year ago, the report said.
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