A home currently under construction at the Winthrop subdivision in Riverview, Fla., in October 2012. (Photo: Chris O'Meara, AP)
WASHINGTON -- Builders started construction last month on the
most single-family homes and apartments since July 2008, more evidence
that the housing recovery is gaining momentum.
The Commerce
Department says housing starts jumped 3.6% in October from September to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. Single-family home
construction dipped 0.2%.
Apartment construction, which is more volatile, rose 10%.
Applications
for building permits, a sign of future construction, fell 2.7% to
866,000, after jumping 12% in September to a four-year high. Still,
permit applications to build single-family homes rose to their highest
level since July 2008.
Housing starts are 87% above the annual
rate of 478,000 in April 2009, the recession low. That's still short of
the 1.5 million annual rate considered healthy.
Associated Press