According to the latest release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 653,000. This is 10.9 percent (±1.6%) above the revised September rate of 589,000 and is 17.7 percent (±3.4%) above the October 2010 estimate of
555,000.

Housing starts also saw a marked increase of 16.5% over October 2010 with 628,000 new homes under construction.

While construction is definitely picking up, completed construction saw a small dip in numbers. This was to be expected from the slow construction starts over the last 90 days.

With the increase in building permits and housing starts, we should a continual improvement in completed construction over the next few months.

To read the full press release, visit www.census.gov.