Housing starts rose in October

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Housing starts on private homes rose 3.6 percent from September to October, and 41.9 percent from October 2011, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 866,000 -- 2.7 percent below the revised rate for September of 890,000 -- but 29.8 percent ahead of the October 2011 estimate of 667,000 -- the department said Tuesday in a release issued jointly with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The department revised its estimate of housing starts for September from 872,000 to 863,000. Starts in October came to 894,000 -- 41.9 percent above the 630,000 rate from October 2011.

Single-family housing starts in October came in at an annual rate of 594,000 -- 0.2 percent below the revised figure for September, 595,000. Single-family housing completions in October were at an annual rate of 542,000 -- 3.4 percent higher than the revised rate for September, 524,000.

The numbers reflect the findings in a separate index released Tuesday that said confidence among home builders had risen for the seventh consecutive month in November.

The Commerce and HUD release said 772,000 privately owned housing construction projects were completed in October on a seasonally adjusted annual basis -- 14.5 percent more completions in the month than in September, where a revised estimate put completions at an annual rate of 674,000, and 33.6 percent above the October 2011 rate of 578,000.