WASHINGTON — The pace of housing starts rebounded by 13.7% to a 1.290 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in October, well ahead of expectations for a 1.190 million pace and the strongest pace since 1.328 million in October 2016, data reported by the Commerce Department Friday morning showed.
There were mixed revisions in the previous two months, with September starts revised up and August starts revised down.
Housing starts rose 17.2% in the South region after falling 9.1% in September due to the hurricanes. Starts were up 42.2% in the Northeast, due to a sharp rise in multi-family building. Starts were also up 18.4% in the Midwest, but fell 3.7% in the West.
Housing starts of single-family homes rose by 5.3% in October after a 4.4% decline in the previous month. Starts of multi-family homes rose 36.8% after a 0.3% September increase, based on an MNI calculation.
The pace of unadjusted starts stands 1.9% below their year ago, but the NAHB index for November rose to a reading of 70 from 68 in October when it was reported on Thursday, suggesting further improvement.
Building permits rose 5.9% in the month, while homes permitted but not started rose 1.3%, so starts could see an increase in activity in November if conditions are right. Single-family permits were up 1.9% while multi-family permits rose 13.9%.
Housing completions jumped 12.6% to a 1.232 million annual rate, the strongest pace since February 2008. Along with a gain in homes under construction in October, the outlook for new home supply in the next few months is strongly positive.
