Housing Starts Fall 14% in Year

NEW YORK — Housing construction plunged 14% in 1987 from the previous year as rising interest rates and high apartment vacancies took their toll on the industry, a survey released Wednesday showed.

The report by the F. W. Dodge division of McGraw-Hill Information Systems said nationwide housing starts fell to 1.58 million units from 1.84 million units in 1986.

It noted that only three of the nation’s top 10 metropolitan areas--Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia--showed any pickup in construction activity last year.

“High vacancy rates and high mortgage rates took a heavy toll of apartment and one-family building alike last year,” said George A. Christie, chief economist for F. W. Dodge.

Leading the nation in 1987 housing construction was Washington, with 52,045 units, up 1% from 1986. The Los Angeles-Long Beach area ranked second with 50,052 units, although activity decreased 32% from the previous year.