Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.173 million in November, 10.5 percent above the revised October estimate of 1.062 million and 16.5 percent above the November 2014 rate. Housing starts have remained above the 1.0 million rate for eight consecutive months.
Housing activity was mixed across regions, rising 21.3 percent in the South and 6.3 percent in the West, while falling 8.5 percent in the Northeast. Housing activity in the Midwest was unchanged during November.
New building permits increased to 1.289 million, up 11.0 percent from October, and 19.5 percent from a year ago.
Housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000, 3.2 percent below October’s estimate, but up 9.2 percent from November 2014.
Read the Census release.
