US housing starts jump past forecasts in November
The US housing market continued to be in good shape last month, amid a surge in construction of single-family homes.
Housing starts jumped by 3.3% month-on-month to reach an annualised pace of 1.297m in November, according to the Census Bureau, which was up from a downwardly revised pace of 1.256m for October.
Economists had projected an annualised pace of starts of 1.250m, on the back of an initially estimated increase of 1.290m for the previous month.
Within the above, starts for single family homes rose by 5.3% on the month to 930,000, while the rate for those homes with five or more units, known as 'multi-family' starts, increased by 3,000 to 359,000.
Permits for new construction on the other hand fell by 1.4% on the month to 1.298m, but nevertheless beat forecasts for a reading of 1.275m.
Versus the same period of one year ago, starts and permits grew by 12.9% and 3.4%, respectively.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Single-family permits, which is the most important number in the whole report, hit a new cycle high in November, and the strength of new home sales, if sustained, points to further significant gains in the next couple of months. Homebuilders are bullish, inventory is tight, and new home prices are trending higher.
"Developers of higher-end homes in states with high property taxes likely will be a bit more cautious next year, given the $10K limit on state and local tax deductions in the tax bill, but the national picture looks solid."