Breaking: Housing Starts, Permits Surge

October 19, 2005, Reuters — U.S. housing starts jumped 3.4 percent in September and permits for future groundbreaking surged to a 32-year high, defying forecasts for a slowdown in construction following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, government data showed on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said the storms had a minimal impact on housing starts. After imputing data for August, it assumed that no permits were issued for the approximately 24 jurisdictions that did not report September data for its sample survey. Low mortgage rates have supported the housing sector for more than four years. Some economists have predicted a cooling in 2006 as long-term interest rates rise and dampen demand. But earlier Wednesday, an industry trade group said mortgage applications rose even as interest rates on the 30-year home loan climbed to their highest levels of 2005. Housing starts rose 6.9 percent in the U.S. South and 1.9 percent in the Midwest and held unchanged in the Northeast and West.
Housing Starts, Permits Surge [MSN Money]