Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images
- Housing starts fell 14.8% to a five-month low in January, Census Bureau data shows.
- Single-family starts dropped 4.7% following a 6.4% drop in December, the sharpest consecutive decline since the summer of 2022.
- Economist David Rosenberg said it's hard to blame winter weather, as declines were seen across the US.
Housing starts collapsed 14.8% month-over-month in January to a five-month low, according to Census Bureau data released Friday.
The annualized rate of 1.331 million units came as as a surprise compared to consensus estimates, and the sudden plummet was even more stark relative to a big upward revision to December's 1.562 million, up from an initial 1.46 million