Privately owned housing starts declined 11.7 percent to an annual rate of 519,000 in October from September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau said today. In October 2009, the annual rate was 529,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 436,000, or 1.1 percent below the revised September figure of 441,000. The number of building permits issued for privately owned housing units was up 0.5 percent to 550,000 in October from September, but below the October 2009 estimate of 576,000.