CNN reports this morning that home building has spiked to its strongest level in almost two years. Contributing factors are record-low mortgage rates and a surge in construction of apartments and condominiums.
Housing starts shot up to an annual rate of 685,000 in the month, up 9.3% from October and 24.3% higher than a year earlier. Building activity easily topped predictions of 627,000 starts economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting.
Building permits, a closely-watched reading that is less affected by weather than actual starts, also shot up, rising 5.7% from October and 20.7% from the year before to 681,000 homes annually.
"By historical standards, homebuilding activity is still very depressed, but at least it appears to be on an established upward trend," said Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital Economics.
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New Hampshire home building activity has increased, too, as Bonin Architects & Associates have noticed in the Lake Sunapee area. Many homeowners are getting a head start on the spring building season by starting the home design of their cottage remodel and cabins with Bonin Architects over the winter months.