December marks 3rd straight month of growth for US builders

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Construction of new homes in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in December 2021 and data released Wednesday (Jan. 19, 2022) suggests that the frantic pace of building will continue this year. The December increase left home construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.70 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Applications for building permits, which can forecast future activity, rose a whopping 9.1% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.87 million units. Both starts and permits topped expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting 1.65 million starts and 1.70 million permit applications. applications.