A sign sits in front of a KB Home construction site, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Simi Valley, Calif. U.S. home construction fell 6% in January but applications for building permits rose sharply.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)WASHINGTON ā U.S. home construction fell 6% in January but applications for building permits, which typically signal activity ahead, rose sharply.
Single-family construction starts dropped 12.2% while construction of apartment units rose 16.2%.
And strong sales this year would only extend a banner 2020 when home construction jumped 7% to 1.38 million units.
The only region of the country that saw an increase last month was the Northeast, where construction rose by 2.3%.