Housing Permits Rise 6% in November

Starts also rise 8.9% to seasonally adjusted pace of 574,000.

Good weather and a stabilizing economy helped housing in November, boosting starts and permits, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Permits, an important indicator of future housing and economic activity, rose 6% percent overall on a monthly basis to a seasonally adjusted level of 584,000 units. Year-over-year, total permits are down 7.3%.

But single-family permits increased 5.3% on a monthly basis to a pace of 473,000 homes in November, suggesting that builders and buyers alike are finally feeling more optimistic about their financial future.

“Single-family permits had flattened recently, [which we believe was] payback for the first-time homeowners' tax credit passed in February, which shifted housing starts and permits from 2010 and late 2009 into the first seven months of 2009,” noted Patrick Newport, U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. “November's solid increase in single-family permits suggests that the payback period is over, and that single-family starts should continue to make steady gains going forward.”