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Post by bot on Jan 21, 2015 21:30:49 GMT -5
U.S. housing starts rise 4.4% in December
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Construction started on new U.S. homes rose 4.4% in December, led up by single-family homes, while volatile apartment building slowed, according to government data released Wednesday. For all of 2014, there were about 1.01 million total housing starts, the greatest calendar-year total since 2007 and up almost 9% from 2013, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. However, total starts remain far below an average pace of about 1.5 million over the 20 years leading up to the housing bubble's 2006 peak. The annual rate of total housing starts rose to 1.09 million last month from 1.04 million November, as single-family homes hit the fastest starts rate since early 2008. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an overall December starts rate of 1.04 million, compared with an originally estimated pace of 1.03 million in November. On Wednesday the government revised November's starts rate to 1.04 million. The annual pace of permits for new construction, a sign of future demand, fell 1.9% in December to 1.03 million, compared with 1.05 million in November. The pace of permits for apartments dropped 12.4%. Meanwhile, the pace of permits for single-family homes rose 4.5% to the fastest rate since January 2008. Economists caution over reading too much into a single monthly home-construction report.
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