Housing Permits at 10-Year Low

Homebuilding permits fell for the fifth straight month in October to their lowest point since 1993, another signal that single-family home construction is drying up. Housing starts were unexpectedly up, but those were mostly work on condo projects. “All of us are ratcheting down our expectations for the bottom of the housing sector,” an economist told Bloomberg. “I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Construction permits dropped 6.6% to 1.17 million, and the number's not done falling. “Builders have too much inventory… and are likely to cut back further,” one economist said, predicting a spring or summer bottom. But another economist tells MarketWatch, "The bottom is not in sight."