The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday the building permits issued for privately owned housing units dropped by 1.6 percent m-o-m in February to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.296 million, while housing starts fell by 8.7 percent m-o-m to an annual rate 1.162 million, the lowest level in over 1-1/2 years. 

Economists had forecast housing starts slumping to 1.213 million last month and building permits falling to 1.300 million. 

Data for January were revised higher.

According to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, were unchanged m-o-m at 821,000 in February, while approvals for the multi-family homes segment declined 4.2 percent m-o-m to a 475,000 unit-rate. 

In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes tumbled 17.0 percent m-o-m to a rate of 805,000 units in February, the lowest level since May 2017, while housing starts for the multi-family segment climbed 17.8 percent m-o-m to a 357,000-unit pace.