U.S. Housing Starts Climb 6.5% In September, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Housing starts in the U.S. rose more than expected in the month of September, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The report said housing starts climbed 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.206 million in September from the revised August estimate of 1.132 million. Economists had expected housing starts to rise to a rate of 1.147 million.

The bigger than expected increase in housing starts reflected a jump in multi-family starts, which surged up 18.3 percent to a rate of 466,000 in September from 394,000 in August.

Single-family starts showed a far more modest increase, inching up 0.3 percent to a rate of 740,000 in September from 738,000 in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits tumbled 5.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.103 million in September from 1.161 million in August.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to come in unchanged compared to the 1.170 million originally reported for the previous month.

Single-family building permits edged down 0.3 percent to a rate of 697,000 in September from 699,000 in August, while multi-family permits tumbled 12.1 percent to a rate of 406,000 from 462,000.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders released a separate report showing that homebuilder confidence unexpectedly improved in the month of October

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index climbed to 64 in October from a downwardly revised 61 in September.

The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to come in unchanged at the 62 originally reported for the previous month.