By Amara Omeokwe and Kate Davidson 
 

WASHINGTON--U.S. homebuilding increased in October, bouncing back from a decline the prior month, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday. Here are takeaways from the report:

-Housing starts, a measure of new-home construction, climbed 3.8% in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.314 million. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimated starts rose by 3.5% to an annual pace of 1.3 million.

-Residential permits-which can signal the volume of forthcoming construction-rose 5.0% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual

rate of 1.461 million. Economists expected a 0.5% decrease to 1.38 million permits.

-Housing-starts data can be volatile month to month and subject to large revisions. October's increase came with a margin of error of 8.7 percentage points. Housing starts in September were 1.266 million, revised up from the previous estimate of 1.256 million. Starts were up 8.5% from October 2018, and building permits rose 14.1% from the same month last year.

-The housing sector has been challenged this year by limited availability of land and low inventory of affordably priced homes. The National Association of Homebuilders reported Monday that a gauge of home-builder confidence ticked lower in November from October, but was still near its highest levels in 2019. The National Association of Realtors on Thursday will release data on October sales of previously-owned homes, which are estimated to have risen from the prior month.

The Commerce report on housing starts can be found at http://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst.pdf

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2019 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)

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