Housing starts jumped 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.206 million units in September, the Commerce Department said.

Starts were up 17.5 percent from their September 2014 pace, and up 12.0 percent in the year to date.

The increase was led by new construction of multi-family units, a sector that can be volatile. Multi-family starts jumped 17.0 percent in September, while starts on single-family homes, which account for two thirds of the US housing market, edged up 0.3 percent.

Building permits, a sign of future home building activity, dropped 5.0 percent in September. Year-over-year, building permits were up 4.7 percent. In the first nine months of the year, they were up 13.0 percent.

"Residential construction continues at a steady pace," said Andres Carbacho-Burgos of Moody's Analytics.

But given the September drop in building permits, the analyst said, construction would likely slow in the coming months, as building permits were moving at a slower year-over-year pace compared to starts.

source AFP