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Housing starts fall

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

U.S. home construction fell in November by the most in almost 11 years, suggesting housing will contribute less to the economy.

Housing starts plunged 13.1 percent to 1.771 million residential units at an annual rate last month, from a high this year of 2.039 million in October, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The level of building permits, a sign of future activity, declined 1.5 percent to 1.988 million.

The level of starts was the lowest since May of last year, and the decrease from October was the largest since January 1994. Home construction declined in all four U.S. regions, suggesting a lack of pent-up demand. The National Association of Realtors expects new home sales to drop in 2005 after a record this year.

"There are certainly a lot of reasons to be expecting the housing market to slow down, but I'm a little bit surprised to see this level of decline," said Steven Ricchiuto, an economist at ABN Amro Inc.

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