Single-family housing permits fall to 26-year low in July (by Rex Nutting)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. home builders sharply reduced the number of new homes started in July and dropped the number of new single-family permits to the lowest level in 26 years, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. Housing starts fell 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000 in July, close to the 960,000 expected by economists. It's the lowest level in 17 years. The decline in July was pay back from a surge of permits and starts in June sparked by a new building code in New York. The number of building permits fell 17.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000. For single-family homes only, permits fell 5.2% to a 584,000 pace, the lowest since August 1982.