Housing starts climb 2.9 percent in October

The nation's home builders ramped up the pace of housing starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.96 million units in October, the Commerce Department reported in a Nov. 18 news release. This was 2.9 percent above September's upward-revised estimate of 1.91 million units, and eclipsed the October 2002 rate of 1.65 million units by 18.6 percent.

For the month, total issuance of building permits increased 5.2 percent above September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.97 million units, 8.8 percent higher than a year ago.

"Today's report indicates that the housing market has remained very strong as builders beefed up production to meet demand," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "Starts and permits have been running at an elevated pace since the summer, and fundamentals suggest that this strong new-home market should carry through into 2004."

Kent Conine, president of the National Association of Home Builders and a home and apartment builder in Dallas, said: "This is continuing to be a remarkable year as home builders work hard to meet very strong housing demand. Builders are clearly continuing to react to a market fueled by low interest rates and solid house-price performance."

Single-family starts reached their highest pace ever in October a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.62 million units. Multifamily starts dipped to 343,000 units, 8.5 percent below September's pace.

Housing starts were mixed in regions across the county. The West and South posted 17.7 percent and 4.9 percent gains, respectively, while the Northeast and Midwest declined 18 percent and 8 percent.

Single family permits rose by 3.2 percent and multifamily permits were 12.9 percent above the September pace. Total permits rose in all regions except the Midwest, where issuance dipped 1.3 percent.