NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The pace of housing starts slowed in September, as the measure of the strength of the nation's housing market came in weaker than Wall Street expectations Tuesday.
The Census Bureau report showed housing starts at an annual rate of 1.9 million in the month, down 6 percent from the revised 2.02 million pace in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were looking for an annual rate of 1.95 million in the period.
Building permits, which is seen as an indication of builders' view of the strength of the market, came in at an annual rate of 2.01 million, compared with 1.97 million pace in August. That was better than economists' consensus forecast for permits to slip to a 1.95 million pace.
Some economists said the larger-than-expected drop in housing starts could have been affected by bad weather in the month, particularly with a series of hurricanes hitting Florida and the Southeast before moving up the East Coast.
"What was surprising to us was the strength of permit issuance. Parul Jain, deputy chief economist for Nomura Securities, told Reuters. "That suggests to us that housing activity is not going to fade away anytime soon. It will continue on a robust path, at least in the near term."
Others pointed out that even with the drop both the housing starts and the permits were near historic highs.
"It was a little weaker than expected but still a pretty decent number," Patrick Fearon, economist for A.G. Edwards & Sons, told Reuters. "In fact, the August (housing start) figure was revised up to 2.02 million, and that's a new peak for this economic cycle."
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