Multifamily housing starts rose 44.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 345,000 units in October after dropping 35.9 percent to a 239,000-unit pace the month before. The pace of multifamily construction was 19.4 percent above October 2006.

Single-family housing starts dropped 7.3 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 884,000 units, the lowest monthly production rate since October 1991 and 25.1 percent below October 2006.

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Economists typically view permit issuance as a better indicator of the health of the housing market than unit starts. Construction permits were down across the board in October.

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Total building permits were down 6.6 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.178 million units. Total permits were down 24.5 percent from a year earlier.

Single-family permit issuance was down eight percent to a pace of 807,000 units for the month, the lowest pace since November 1991 and 31 percent below October 2006.

The rate of multifamily permit issuance was down 3.4 percent to 371,000 units for the month. The pace was 4.9 percent below a year earlier.

Regionally, starts of new homes and apartments were up in the Northeast, Midwest and West by 8.5 percent, 21.1 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively. Housing starts were down in the South by 4.6 percent.

Adding to the bleak housing outlook, D.R. Horton Inc., the largest U.S. home builder, has reported a quarterly loss after taking charges for the lower value of land and other housing-related inventory.

The charges were significantly below what some analysts had expected.

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