U.S. starts, permits down in September

Housing starts in the U.S. fell by 0.5 percent in September to 1.35 million, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Year over year, starts were down 0.7 percent. The number of building permits declined by 2.9 percent from August and 5.7 percent from a year earlier, reaching 1.43 million. Single-family permits however stood 0.3 percent above the previous month.