The monthly
report on new residential construction from the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday
that housing starts declined by 1.8 per cent m-o-m in November to a seasonally
adjusted annual pace of 1.289 million (the lowest level since July (1.262 million)), while
building permits surged by 6.1 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1.505 million (the highest level since
February (1.563 million)).
Economists had forecast
housing starts of 1.340 million units for November and building permits of 1.430
million units.
Data for October
was revised to show homebuilding rising at
a pace of 1.312 million units, instead of increasing at a rate of 1.311 million
units as originally reported.
According to
the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market,
advanced by 0.1 per cent m-o-m in November, while approvals for the
multi-family homes segment (includes 2 to 4 and 5 or more housing units) jumped
by 19.0 per cent m-o-m.
In the
meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes climbed by 6.4 per cent m-o-m
in November, while multi-unit starts tumbled by 24.1 per cent m-o-m.