The U.S. housing market is showing signs of life. New home construction starts rose slightly in November to the highest level since August, assuaging fears that the market could be entering a serious downturn.
Starts of new residential buildings rose 3.2 percent from October to an annualized 1.26 million, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, permits for new construction rose by 5 percent to 1.33 million.
But there’s also bad news. Starts of single-family homes fell 4.6 percent to an annualized 824,000. That’s the lowest rate since May 2017, and it marked the third consecutive month of decline.
The U.S. housing market has slowed down noticeably in 2018 amid rising mortgage rates. [Bloomberg] — Konrad Putzier