Nationwide housing starts fell 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.065 million units in January, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The drop was mainly due to a 22.2 percent decrease in the Midwest, according to a release from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Single-family housing production fell 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 678,000 in January, while multifamily starts rose 7.5 percent to 387,000 units. “These numbers are consistent with our recent surveys and are primarily due to severe weather hitting the Midwest and other parts of the country,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods.