The annual pace of new home construction increased again last month amid a historic shortage of housing inventory and crushing mortgage rates. Housing starts, a measure of new home construction, jumped by 1.9% in October, compared to the previous month. Starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million last month, rising above expectations of 1.35 million, according to data released Wednesday by the Census Bureau. Building permits also ticked up in October, climbing 1.1% from August’s revised number to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.487 million. The housing market has been constrained by the dramatic swing in mortgage rates over the past two years from under 3% to surpassing 7%, she said.

Source: CNN November 17, 2023 14:29 UTC