Home Construction in U.S. Probably Cooled From Four-Year High

New residential construction in the U.S. probably cooled in January from a four-year high, signaling the industry’s momentum paused at the start of 2013, economists said before a report today.

Builders broke ground on houses at a 920,000 annual rate, down from December’s 954,000 pace that was the fastest since June 2008, according to the median estimate of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Housing permits, a proxy for future construction, probably rose.