WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Privately owned housing starts rose 8.9 percent in November from the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.
"Stabilization in home construction appears to be on solid footing, with single-family housing starts at levels well above the low set in March of this year," said Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
"The bottom in home construction has coincided with increasing home sales throughout the past nine months," he said.
Economists expected home starts to rise to 570,000 on an annual basis. But housing starts came in slightly ahead of that with 528,000 starts on an annual basis.
Construction firm starts for single family homes rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 compared to a month ago. Multiplex housing starts came in at 83,000 for the month.
Total project starts were down 12.4 percent from November 2008.
Commerce said permits issued, which predict future housing starts, rose 6 percent from October to November to an annual rate of 584,000. Permits issued dropped 7.3 percent from a year ago.
Completed housing projects rose 8.7 percent from October, but were down 25.3 percent from a year ago, the report said.
