Housing

Housing Starts Weaken in November

construction
Thinkstock
New housing starts in November fell to an annual seasonally adjusted rate of 861,000, a decrease of 3% from the revised October rate of 888,000 and a gain of 21.6% above the November 2011 rate of 708,000. A consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected the rate to fall to 865,000.

The seasonally adjusted rate of new building permits rose to 899000, which is 3.6% above the revised October rate of 868,000 and 26.8% higher than the October 2011 rate of 709,000.

Single-family housing starts fell to an annualized rate of 565,000 in November, down 4.1% from the revised October rate of 589,000.

Permits for new single-family homes fell 0.2% in November, to an adjusted annual rate of 565,000, from 566,000 in October.

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) yesterday reported a second consecutive six-year high in its builder confidence index. But despite improving confidence in the homebuilding sector, new construction of single-family homes remains historically low and far below the peak of about 2.3 million new housing starts in 2006.

Paul Ausick

Credit card companies are handing out rewards and benefits to win the best customers. A good cash back card can be worth thousands of dollars a year in free money, not to mention other perks like travel, insurance, and access to fancy lounges. See our top picks for the best credit cards today. You won’t want to miss some of these offers.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.