Housing starts in the U.S. rose 3.6 percent from September to October, up 41.9 percent year-over-year as construction of structures with five or more units increased 10.0 percent (up 62.9 percent year-over-year) while single-family home starts fell 0.2 percent (up 35.3 percent year-over-year).
Single-family housing starts hit 50,800 last month having averaged 87,400 a month since 1959, peaking at 170,400 in May of 2005 and measuring 150,700 that October. Starts for structures with five or more units hit 25,600 last month having 30,100 since 1963, peaking at 87,200 in May of 1973 and measuring 54,000 that October.
Total housing starts which measured 77,900 in October have averaged 122,500 a month since 1959, hitting 227,300 in early 2006 and peaking at 249,400 in early 1972.
On a year-over-year basis, permit activity to start construction was up 29.8 percent in October with applications for multi-family housing up 40.7 percent, up 26.6 percent for single-family homes.
In the west, starts were up 73.1 percent year-over-year, up 77.6 percent for single-family homes while permit activity was up 38.3 percent, up 44.0 percent for single-family homes.
∙ New Residential Construction Statistics [doc.gov]