Housing construction in November for single-family activity fell to the lowest in more than 16 years.

Construction of single-family home fell by 5.6 percent to an annual rate of 829,000 units. It was the eighth consecutive drop in single-family home starts since 1991.

Meanwhile apartment building rose last month by 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 332,000 units.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartment in all drop 3.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.187 million.

The government commented on the future activity that this was the slowest pace for the application on building permits since 1993, a drop by 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.15 million units.