The housing start numbers released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce continued a recent string of positive news from the housing sector. Overall housing starts increased 3.6 percent from the September numbers to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000 units. This is the highest total since July 2008 and marks a 41.9 percent increase from the October 2011 total.
The numbers were boosted by a 11.9 percent increase in multifamily production; single-family starts for the month were virtually unchanged at 594,000 units.
Regionally, overall housing starts rose 17.2 percent in the West and 8.9 percent in the Midwest. There was a storm-related decline of 6.5 percent in the Northeast and 2.5 percent in the South.
"Today's report bears out similar changes in other economic indicators that housing continues to recover at a slow but steady place, and is right in line with our expectations of modest month-to-month growth," said National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist David Crowe.
Other recent housing news indicated that builder confidence reached its highest level since May 2006.
