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Starts increased 4.4 percent to a seasonally
adjusted annual pace of 1.09 million units, the Commerce
Department said on Wednesday. November's starts were revised up
to a 1.04
million-unit pace.
For all of 2014, groundbreaking increased 8.8 percent to 1.01
million units, the highest since 2007. Economists polled by
Reuters had forecast starts rising to a 1.04 million-unit pace
from November's previously reported 1.03 million-unit rate.
Housing has lagged an acceleration in economic growth as tepid
wage gains sideline first-time buyers from the market and force
many young adults to stay at home with parents or share lodgings
with relatives and friends.
The resulting weak household formation, in particular, has hurt
residential construction. Higher house prices, mortgage rates
and stringent lending practices by financial institutions have
also been a constraint.
Single-family homes starts, the largest part of the market,
jumped 7.2 percent to a 728,000-unit pace, the highest level
since March 2008. Groundbreaking on single-family projects in
the West hit a seven-year high, while starts in the Midwest were
the highest since December 2011.
Groundbreaking in the volatile multi-family homes segment fell
0.8 percent to a 361,000-unit pace.
Permits for future home construction fell 1.9 percent to a 1.03
million-unit pace. Permits have been above a 1 million-unit pace
since July.
Single-family permits rose 4.5 percent to their highest level
since January 2008, while multi-family permits tumbled 11.8
percent.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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