Steel Markets
November 19, 2020
Housing Starts Climb to Highest Rate Since 2007
Written by Sandy Williams
Housing starts exceeded expectations in October, jumping 4.9 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,530,000 following a revision to 1,459,000 in September. Starts were up 14.2 percent from the October 2019 rate. Single-family construction led the way with a monthly increase of 6.4 percent. Construction starts for multifamily buildings of five units or more fell 3.2 percent.
Regionally, starts jumped 12.9 percent in the South, 4.2 percent in the West and 3.3 percent in the Midwest. Construction in the Northeast plunged 38.6 percent overall with single-family starts down 17.9 percent month-over-month.
