US Housing Starts Drop 5.2% to 1.221 Million in September, Missing Expectations

U.S. housing starts fell 5.2% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.221 million units, missing economist expectations of a rebound to 1.300 to 1.305 million. The contraction followed an upwardly revised August rate of 1.288 million units, which marked a 5.9% decline. Single-family starts dropped 4.6% to 859,000, while multi-family starts declined 6.7% to 362,000. Meanwhile, building permits slipped 0.2% to an annualized rate of 1.400 million, slightly beating consensus forecasts. Following the release, the 30-year Treasury yield dropped 6.4 basis points to 5.41%, and spot gold fell 0.49%.