More new homes were built in November, fueled by a job market recovery and steady consumer confidence. New U.S. home construction starts in November rose 16.5% from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million, new data from the Commerce Department Wednesday show. The growth was driven largely by single-family housing starts, which rose 7.6% from October.
The November housing data beat analysts’ estimate of 1.13 million, compiled by Bloomberg after it polled 81 analysts. Building permits for privately-owned housing units in November rose 11% a month earlier to 1,29 million. Single-family permits in November were up 1.1% from October to 723,000. Privately-owned housing completions in November rose 3.2% month-over-month to 947,000. Single-family housing completions in November climbed 0.3% from October to 632,000.