US home construction falls for third straight month

U.S. home construction fell in February for a third consecutive month, as the severe weather continued to take a bite on the property sector, data with the Commerce Department showed on Tuesday. Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000. It was 0.2 percent below the revised January data and is 6.4 percent below the amount for the same period a year ago. Single-family housing starts, which take up two thirds of the total, stood at 583,000, 0.3 percent above the revised January figure. However, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, a gauge of future construction, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,018,000. It was 7.7 percent above the revised January rate and was 6.9 percent higher year on year. The U.S. housing industry, which suffered its worst slump in decades since 2006, has showed signs of steady improvement over the past year until the bitterly cold winter arrived. Analysts expect housing demand will recover as the weather gets warm and income improves.