The U.S. Commerce Department released the housing market data on Wednesday. Housing starts in the U.S. fell 2.0% to 1.065 million annualized rate in January from a 1.087 million pace in December, missing expectations for a decrease to 1.070 million. December's figure was revised down from 1.089 million units.

Building permits in the U.S. decreased 0.7% to 1.053 million annualized rate in January from a 1.06 million pace in December. Analysts had expected the pace to remain unchanged at 1.06 million units.

Starts of single-family homes dropped 6.7% to 678,000 units in January. Building permits for single-family homes declined 3.1%.

Starts of multifamily buildings rose 7.5% to 360,000 units in January. Permits for multi-family housing increased 3.6%.