New homes construction in the US has fallen by 16.8 per cent in January to a 50-year low according to official statistics.

Housing starts are generally seen as a future-orienting indicator of the economic health of a country. With figures 56.2 per cent lower than January of 2008, the latest report from the U.S. Commerce Department is rather grim.

Housing starts in January were at an adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, the lowest since the Commerce Department started keeping records in 1959, now marking the seventh straight monthly decline in housing starts.

Economists agree that the current data reflects a need for the housing starts to fall in order to run down record stockpiles of homes already on the market. Given the harsh economic conditions, the increasing unemployment rate and dropping investments values, builders are finding it harder than ever to find buyers for their new built homes.