U.S. Housing Starts rose by 12.1% (month-over-month) in December to an annual rate of 954,000. Single-family homes, which account for approximately 70% of construction, increased by 8.1%, while structures with 5 units or more rose by 5.6%. Building permits, which measure future building activity, rose by 0.3%. Economists believe that a healthy housing market requires housing starts to grow at an annual rate of approximately 1.2 million.
