Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.290 million in October, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The rise was 13.7% above the upwardly revised September rate of 1.225 million but is 2.9% below the October 2016 rate. Single-family home starts grew 5.3% from last month.
Housing activity increased in three of the four regions as the Northeast, Midwest and South grew 42.2%, 18.4% and 17.2%, respectively. The West was the lone region to see a decline, falling 3.7%.
New building permits increased during the month, growing 5.9% to 1.297 million. Multifamily accounted for most of the increase, as single-family building permits rose 1.9%. New building permits were up 0.9% from the October 2016 rate.
Housing completions were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.232 million, up 12.6% from the revised September estimate and 15.5% above the October 2016 rate.
Read the Census release.