U.S. Housing Starts Jump to Highest Level in Five Years
Source: Bloomberg
By Lorraine Woellert - Dec 18, 2013
Builders broke ground on more homes in November than at any time in over five years as growing demand helped the industry overcome rising U.S. mortgage rates.
Housing starts jumped 22.7 percent to a 1.09 million annualized rate, exceeding all forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the most since February 2008, data from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Permits for future projects held near a five-year high, indicating the pickup will be sustained into 2014.
Gains in construction will probably boost economic growth this quarter as an improving job market propels homebuilding to its best year since 2007. Federal Reserve officials today took the first step toward unwinding unprecedented monetary stimulus, saying they will reduce monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion as employment and the expansion showed signs of progress.
“The economy seems to be picking up and there’s quite a lot of pent-up demand,” said David Sloan, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York and the top forecaster for housing starts over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “Even if the Fed does start to taper, I think the housing market will prove resilient.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-18/builders-began-work-on-most-u-s-homes-in-more-than-five-years.html
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