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Housing starts fall steeply
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July 21, 1999: 9:24 a.m. ET
Higher mortgages take toll on new home construction in June
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The rate of new home construction dropped dramatically in June, the government said Wednesday, representing the slowest home-building rate in more than a year as rising mortgage rates dragged on construction.
Housing starts fell 5.6 percent to an annualized rate of 1.571 million units, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. In May, housing starts grew a revised 5.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.665 million units.
Economists had expected the June annual rate figure to reach 1.667 million units.
Fewer new kids on the block
Starts of single-family homes dropped 8.7 percent to 1.274 million a year after a 10.7 percent jump in May starts led to a 15-year high annual rate of 1.395 million. Starts on apartments rose 10 percent to 297,000 a year in June following a 14.8 percent May decrease.
June housing starts reflected the slowest building rate since May 1998 when the annual rate was 1.541 million units.
The bond market showed little reaction to the news, with the 30-year Treasury remaining down 7/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.90 percent, the same level it was trading at before the Commerce Department released its report.
-- from staff and wire reports
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Commerce Department
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