US housing starts fall by less than expected in September

US housing starts fell more sharply than anticipated during the previous month, albeit due to weakness in the volatile multi-family segment.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the annualised rate of housing starts shrank at a month-on-month pace of 9.4% in September to reach 1.256m.

That was considerably worse than the 1.320m pace that economists had penciled in.

Nonetheless, single-family housing starts in fact rose by 0.3% versus August to reach 918,000.

Meanwhile, the volume of housing permits, a lead indicator for activity in the sector, fell by 2.7% to hit 1.387m (consensus: 1.340m).