U.S. single-family homebuilding, permits surge to more than 13-year high
October 20, 2020 | Lucia Mutikani | Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. single-family homebuilding raced to a more than 13-year high in September, cementing the housing market’s status as the star of the economic recovery amid record-low mortgage rates and a migration to the suburbs and low-density areas in search of more room for home offices and schooling.
The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday also showed building permits and housing completions scaling levels last seen in 2007. That could help to ease an acute shortage of homes for sale, which has fueled house price inflation.
The data reinforced expectations that the economy rebounded sharply in the third quarter after suffering its deepest contraction in at least 73 years in the second quarter. But the recovery from the COVID-19 recession has entered a period of uncertainty, with fiscal stimulus depleted.
