U.S. housing starts hit a more than two-year low in August, according to the U.S. Census Bureau
The decline in housing starts was significant, with a drop of 11.3% from July
August's annualized run rate for housing starts was approximately 1.283 million units, falling short of the estimated 1.44 million
Builders initiated construction on new single-family homes at an annual rate of 941,000, down 4.3% compared to July
Permits for new construction, a key indicator of near-term housing demand, increased by 6.9% to a rate of 1.543 million units
Over the past year, housing starts had shown improvement, partly due to rising new home sales outpacing existing home sales
July witnessed a 17-month high in new home sales, reaching an annualized rate of 714,000
Rising mortgage rates, reaching levels not seen since 2001, appear to have affected market sentiment negatively
The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) reported a six-point drop in builder confidence, reaching a six-month low of 45 points in September