US Housing Starts Rise In December

Housing starts in the US rose in December, according to a Wednesday report by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The figure, which measures the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, came in at around 1.702 million.

"This is 1.4% above the revised November estimate of 1.678 million and is 2.5% above the December 2020 rate of 1.661 million," said the report.

Building permits, a key indicator for demand in the market, soared 9.1%, to 1.873 million in December, the highest level since January and well above market expectations of 1.701 million. -