In November, home building in the U.S. rose to its highest level in 19 months, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"While we still have a long way to go back to normal, the latest numbers are one more indication that housing is slowly turning the corner," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a homebuilder from Reno, Nev.
Production of new single-family homes and apartments rose 9.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units in November, beating forecasts from economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, which expected an increase of just 0.3 percent. Still, production is well short of a pace of 1 million to 1.5 million, which the Wall Street Journal noted is a "healthy" level for U.S. home production.
An increase in construction of multifamily housing-which surged 25.3 percent in November-led the November gains. Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 447,000, which is 2.3 percent above the revised October figure of 437,000.
"Along with recent gains that have been registered in builder confidence and other economic measures, the improvement in new-home production and permitting shown in this latest report provides further evidence of the gradual strengthening that we expected to see in housing markets toward the end of the year," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "We anticipate continued, slow improvement in housing starts and sales through 2012."
Combined housing starts increased in the Northeast, West and South, while they decreased in the Midwest.
