New housing starts fell 13.6% in the...

New housing starts fell 13.6% in the third quarter, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a report by the F. W. Dodge Group of McGraw-Hill Information Services Co. Housing starts fell to 371,042 units in the July through September period from 429,376 starts in the same period in 1987, according the private research firm. The report said the drop concentrated in multifamily housing construction. Leading the list of most active housing areas was Washington, D.C., at 12,846 new units, followed by the Riverside-San Bernardino area at 11,103. In third place was the Los Angeles-Long Beach area at 10,320 units, followed by Atlanta at 10,071 and Philadelphia at 7,469.