U.S. housing starts down in November

But year-over-year increases point to improving market

U.S. builders broke ground on fewer houses in November, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The news comes on the heels of October’s numbers, which were at a four year high.

Privately owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000, a three percent drop below the October estimate of 888,000, which was the highest since July 2008. But overall, the numbers point to an improving nationwide housing market, with starts up 21.6 percent from November 2011.

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The Northeast, ostensibly due to the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy, saw a drop of 5.2 percent in housing starts from October. It was also the only region to record a drop over the last year, with housing starts nearly 26 percent below their November 2011 levels. –Hiten Samtani