Home builders retreated on a massive scale in October, dashing hopes that the bottom has been found in the troubled housing sector.
Starts of new homes plunged 14.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.486 million, the lowest level since July 2000, the Commerce Department estimated Friday.
Building permits fell as well, down 6.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.535 million, the lowest in nine years. It was the largest percentage decline in permits in seven years.
"The worst in the housing sector has not yet passed," said Ray Stone, chief economist at Stone & McCarthy Research.
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