WASHINGTON — Privately owned housing starts in the United States dropped 3.7 percent in November as single-family construction plunged to the lowest level in more than 16 years, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The report showed that construction of new homes and apartments declined last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.187 million units. That was 24.2 percent below the year earlier level.

Construction of single-family homes tumbled 5.4 percent in November to an annual rate of 829,000 units, the lowest point since April 1991, while multi-family construction was up 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 332,000 units.

By region of the country, construction rose by 0.3 percent in the South. However, housing starts plummeted 16.3 percent in the Northeast and fell 6.9 percent in the West and 1.5 percent in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, permits for future groundbreaking, an indicator of builder confidence, decreased 1.5 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.15 million units. That was the slowest pace for building permits since June 1993 and the sixth straight month of decline.

The once-sizzling U.S. housing market has cooled off significantly since last year.

The slump in the housing sector, the worst in two decades, is expected by economists to continue amid a widening credit crisis stemming from troubles in the high-risk U.S. subprime mortgage market, where loans are given to homebuyers with weak credit histories.

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