Home building is at a four year high.  Look at the home builder stocks.

US Census Bureau Update NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN OCTOBER 2012

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for October 2012:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 866,000.  This is 2.7 percent (±0.8%) below the revised September rate of 890,000, but is 29.8 percent (±1.8%) above the October 2011 estimate of 667,000.

Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 562,000; this is 2.2 percent (±0.8%) above the revised September figure of 550,000.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 280,000 in October.

HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000.  This is 3.6 percent (±13.1%)* above the revised September estimate of 863,000 and is 41.9 percent (±15.9%) above the October 2011 rate of 630,000.

Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 594,000; this is 0.2 percent (±10.3%)* below the revised September figure of 595,000.  The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 285,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 772,000.  This is 14.5 percent (±15.6%)* above the revised September estimate of 674,000 and is 33.6 percent (±17.3%) above the October 2011 rate of 578,000.

Single-family housing completions in October were at a rate of 542,000; this is 3.4 percent (±11.9%)* above the revised September rate of 524,000.  The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 226,000.

New Residential Construction data for November 2012 will be released on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, at 8:30 A.M. EST.

Our Internet site is: http://www.census.gov/starts Other links: http://tinyurl.com/79ljdng [Open in new window] http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/20/real_estate/home-building/index.html?iid=HP_LN http://tinyurl.com/bkvzfdy [Open in new window] and http://tinyurl.com/c3w53ly [Open in new window]