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Housing starts fell in October, pressured by a drop in single-family construction.

Data from the Census Bureau showed housing starts dropped 3.1% in October to an annual rate of 1.311 million units. Meanwhile, single-family housing starts slipped 6.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 970,000 units, unchanged from a year ago.

The decline came as mortgage rates have been climbing, with the average 30-year fixed loan hovering around 6.7%. Rates on a home loan tend to follow US Treasury yields, which have been rising since mid-September partly due to investor anticipation of Trump’s victory and his proposed policies around taxes and tariffs.

Higher rates also likely discouraged builders from filing building permits during the month.

Contract permits for single family dwellings fell to a pace of 968,000, a 0.5% drop from September’s revised figure of 963,000.

“Major storms likely stalled the beginnings of some residential projects, causing a steep decline in construction in the southeast,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, wrote after the release.

“Both housing starts and building permits declined in October as several homebuilders appeared to hold back the start of projects until after the election. However, more recent surveys showed a rebound in homebuilder confidence.”