Housing starts fall to record low

Housing starts nationwide dropped to the lowest recorded level in January, according to data released today by the Commerce Department. Starts dropped to 466,000 in January, down 16.8 percent from December’s 547,000 starts and 56.2 percent lower than the number of housing in January 2008. Housing starts have fallen 80 percent from their 2.3 million peak in January 2006. Home builder confidence in the market for new homes is also low, remaining in the single digits for the fourth consecutive month, the National Association of Home Builders said yesterday.