Housing starts up slightly in September

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- New U.S. home construction rose modestly in September with housing starts 0.3 percent higher than August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

At annual rate, there were an estimated 610,000 privately owned housing starts in the month, higher than the revised August figure of 608,000. Housing starts were also 4.1 percent higher than the 586,000 starts from the same month a year ago.

The Commerce Department said the 539,000 housing permits issued in the month were 5.6 percent below the revised August rate of 571,000 and 10.9 percent below the 605,000 issued in September 2009.

Permits issued and building starts and permits issued are both leading indicators. Permits

issued predicts how many building starts are likely to occur one and two months down the road. Building starts is a current gauge of construction activity, but it also predicts future sales of furniture, appliances, lawn mowers and other items.

Commerce said there 648,000 privately owned housing projects were completed in September, 7.3 percent higher than a revised August figure of 604,000, but 10.1 percent below September 2009, when 721,000 home project completions were recorded.