The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday the building permits issued for privately owned housing units rose by 0.3 percent m-o-m in December to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.326 million, while housing starts tumbled by 11.2 percent m-o-m to an annual rate 1.078 million, the lowest reading since September of 2016.

Economists had forecast housing starts increasing by 0.5 percent m-o-m last month and building permits falling by 2.8 percent m-o-m.

According to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, declined 2.2 percent m-o-m to 829,000 in December, while approvals for the multi-family homes segment climbed 4.9 percent m-o-m to a 497,000 unit-rate.

In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes dropped 6.7 percent m-o-m to a rate of 758,000 units in December, the lowest level since August 2016, while housing starts for the multi-family segment 20.4 percent m-o-m to a 320,000-unit pace.