WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. housing starts declined sharply in December due to a big drop of single-family housing construction, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

Overall housing starts declined 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.192 million units in December, the department said. Economists had expected a 1.275 million annual rate for housing starts last month.

While single-family housing starts fell 11.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 836,000 last month, construction on buildings with five or more units rose 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 352,000.

Despite the drop in December, the three-month moving average for single-family starts reached a post-recession high rate of 890,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Analysts said the slowdown of house construction in December is unlikely to last, as single-family permits, a useful indicator of future construction conditions, increased 1.8 percent to a post-recession high rate of 881,000 last month.

For the whole year 2017, single-family starts increased 8.5 percent to a level of 848,000, indicating a good year for U.S. housing construction.