WASHINGTON – U.S. single-family homebuilding fell in January, but an easing in mortgage rates and improvement in homebuilder confidence suggested the recession-hit housing market was close to finding a floor. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, dropped 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000 units last month. Single-family homebuilding tumbled 27.3% on a year-on-year basis in January. …The sector has been the biggest causality of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hiking campaign. …Starts for housing projects with five units or more fell 5.4% to a rate of 457,000 units. Multi-family housing construction remains underpinned by demand for rental accommodation. With both single- and multi-family homebuilding declining, overall housing starts dropped 4.5% to a rate of 1.309 million units last month, the lowest level since June 2020.