US home building hits 4-year high
(AFP) – 22 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — US home construction and building permits surged in September, government data showed Wednesday in fresh confirmation of a recovery under way in the depressed housing market.
Housing starts leaped 15.0 percent from August to an annual rate of 872,000, the strongest pace since July 2008, the Commerce Department said.
Starts were up 34.8 percent year-over-year.
The monthly gain was well above the average analyst forecast of 768,000.
And the Commerce Department upwardly revised the prior two months' gains, notably by 1.8 point to 4.1 percent for August.
Starts on single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, jumped 11.0 percent from August.
Construction of buildings of five or more units, a highly volatile sector month-on-month, rose 25.1 percent.
New building permits, which signal potential future homebuilding, increased 11.6 percent from August to an annual rate of 894,000.
In recent months data has indicated the US housing recovery from the 2006 collapse of a price bubble is gaining traction, with sales and prices picking up.
"While we believe that housing has turned the corner and that price, sales, and production activity are headed higher, the extent of the gains in starts and permits surprised us in September and points to a larger contribution to GDP growth in the fourth quarter" than previously estimated, RDQ Economics analysts said.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
(AFP) – 22 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — US home construction and building permits surged in September, government data showed Wednesday in fresh confirmation of a recovery under way in the depressed housing market.
Housing starts leaped 15.0 percent from August to an annual rate of 872,000, the strongest pace since July 2008, the Commerce Department said.
Starts were up 34.8 percent year-over-year.
The monthly gain was well above the average analyst forecast of 768,000.
And the Commerce Department upwardly revised the prior two months' gains, notably by 1.8 point to 4.1 percent for August.
Starts on single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, jumped 11.0 percent from August.
Construction of buildings of five or more units, a highly volatile sector month-on-month, rose 25.1 percent.
New building permits, which signal potential future homebuilding, increased 11.6 percent from August to an annual rate of 894,000.
In recent months data has indicated the US housing recovery from the 2006 collapse of a price bubble is gaining traction, with sales and prices picking up.
"While we believe that housing has turned the corner and that price, sales, and production activity are headed higher, the extent of the gains in starts and permits surprised us in September and points to a larger contribution to GDP growth in the fourth quarter" than previously estimated, RDQ Economics analysts said.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More »