Business News Asia
Rising mortgage rates cause U.S. housing starts to fall in September
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell 8.1% in September to 1.439 million from 1.566 million in August.
The rise in mortgage rates and the price of building materials has made it more difficult to start building a house.
Single-family housing starts decreased by 4.7%, while construction of multifamily housing, including apartments and condominiums, decreased by 13.2%.
Residential building permits increased by 1.4% to 1.564 million units.
According to the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the average mortgage rate for U.S. home loans rose above 6.9% for the first time since 2002.
The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.94% last week from 6.81% the previous week.
The average mortgage rate has risen steadily since the beginning of 2022, given the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds, which is the benchmark for mortgage rates.