WASHINGTON - Following a 4.9 percent gain in September, total housing starts fell 14.6 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.486 million units, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This was 27.4 percent below the pace from a year ago.

Single-family housing starts were down 15.9 percent in October to a pace of 1.177 million units while multifamily housing construction dropped 9.1 percent to a rate of 309,000 units.