October Housing Starts Rise to Highest Level Since 1986
ousing starts in October rose to the highest level in almost 18 years, as builders started work on 1.96 million homes at an annual rate, up 2.9% from a revised 1.905 million pace in September, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
In addition, building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 5.2% to 1.973 million, the highest since 1984.
Increased construction likely means more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. Also, in the case of home construction, dry van freight can see an increase in demand for the delivery of household appliances and furniture.
Economists had forecast starts to drop to a 1.85 million annual rate from the previously reported 1.888 million in September, Reuters reported.
Thirty-year mortgage rates are less than a percentage point higher than June's record low of 5.21%, bolstering new home sales, which the National Association of Home Builders forecasted would reach the highest ever for a third straight year in 2003, Bloomberg said.
By region, starts rose 17.7% to a 526,000 annual rate in the West and 4.9% in the South to 898,000. Starts fell 18% in the Northeast to 146,000 and 8% to 390,000 in the Midwest.
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