Seth Jacobs – Maine Mortgage Banker / Broker 207-321-5347

U.S. housing starts fell 10 percent, the biggest decline since March 2009, to a 593,000 annual rate, from a revised 659,000 pace in April that was less than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed. Building permits, a sign of future construction, unexpectedly fell to a one-year low. Single-family starts suffered the largest drop since 1991.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares tumbled at least 23 percent after their regulator told the two mortgage-finance companies to delist their stock from the New York Stock Exchange.