Wednesday the Fed released minutes from the FOMC meeting detailing that housing activity would continue to pull down on economic growth for the next 3+ quarters,. Investors are trying to determine how much of an effect this fact will have on the U.S. economy as a whole and consumer spending since the start of holiday shopping is just around the corner. The U.S. Commerce Department revealed that Housing Starts were down 14.6% in October to 1.49 mln units. This was more than exopected and was the lowest level since July 2000. Building Permits did no better and went down 6.3% to its lowest level since December 1997.
The Fed is trying to produce a soft landing for the housing market so some of these numbers are expected, but somewhat more alarming than hoped.