PARIS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - French new housing starts fell for a 12th month in a row in October and by the largest amount in four months, data showed on Tuesday.
The housing ministry said new housing starts fell 20.6 percent in the three months to end-October compared with the same period a year earlier, the biggest fall since June 2008 when they dropped 28.2 percent.
Signs of a correction in the French housing market have been growing for months as transactions and then prices of existing homes fell in step with the slide in new home construction.
While the market slowdown in France has been less dramatic than in neighbours like Britain, Spain or Ireland, worries over real estate, combined with unemployment concerns, have helped drive consumer confidence to its lowest level in two decades.
Consumer spending makes up just over half of the French economy. (Reporting by Brian Rohan, editing by Mike Peacock)