The
monthly report on new residential construction from the Commerce Department revealed
on Thursday the housing starts surged by 11.8 percent m-o-m in November to a
seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.679 million (the highest level since March),
while building permits increased by 3.6 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1.712 (the highest level since August).
Economists
had forecast housing starts rising to a pace of 1.568 million units last month
and building permits increasing to a pace of 1.663 million units.
Data
for October was revised to show homebuilding growing at a pace of 1.502 million
units, instead of increasing at a rate of 1.520 million units as previously
reported.
According
to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the
market, went up 2.7 percent m-o-m in November, while approvals for the
multi-family homes segment (includes 2 to 4 and 5 or more housing units) jumped
5.2 percent m-o-m.
In
the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes soared 11.3 percent m-o-m
in November, while housing starts for the multi-family climbed 12.1 percent
m-o-m.