U.S. starts, permits fall in December

U.S. housing starts declined in December but single-family activity rebounded, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. On a monthly basis, starts were down by 1.4 percent. Single-family starts rose by 11.3 percent to an annualized rate of 909,000 units. Building permits for the month fell by 1.6 percent to a rate of 1.33 million units, while single-family permits dropped by 6.5 percent.