The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Tuesday morning that new housing starts in November jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.173 million. That was an increase of 10.5% from the upwardly revised October rate of 1.062 million and an increase of 19.5% compared with the November 2014 rate of 1.007 million. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 1.141 million.
The revision to the October rate added 2,000 new housing starts to the previously reported total.
The seasonally adjusted rate of new building permits rose in November to 1.289 million, up 11% from the upwardly revised October rate of 1.161 million and 19.5% above the November 2014 rate of 1.079 million. The consensus estimate called for 1.146 million new building permits.
Single-family housing starts rose to an annualized rate of 768,000 in October, up 7.6% from the revised October rate of 714,000.
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Permits for new single-family homes rose 1.1% month over month in November to an adjusted annual rate of 723,000 from a revised total of 715,000 in October.
Multi-family starts for buildings with five or more units, a more volatile number than single-family starts, rose by 31.7% year over year in November and rose by 9.7% compared with October.