Permits and New-Home Construction Activity Continue to Climb

Give yourself a pat on the back: National housing stats just keep breaking post-recession records as permitting reached a pace of 1.37 million in November. Experts do not think that the housing industry will reach pre-recession numbers anytime soon, but this month’s strong showing highlights the turning tides as builders finally climb over the overhang from the pre-recession housing boom.

The numbers: Builders began construction on new homes in the U.S. at a pace of 1.37 million in November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. This represented a 3.2% increase from a revised 1.32 million in October and was 13.6% higher than a year ago.

Meanwhile, permitting activity hit yet another post-recession high. Building permits for privately-owned housing units were authorized at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.48 million. That was 1.4% above the pace of 1.46 million set in October and 11.1% above last year’s rate.

Housing starts and building permits both came in above the consensus estimates of economists polled by MarketWatch, which were 1.36 million and 1.44 million respectively.

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