Housing starts in St. Louis are up.  Nationally, a 22% surge represents the first increase since June when they rose 11%.  

Applications for building permits, considered a reliable sign of future construction activity, rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 last month. Economists were expecting permits to fall to 500,000.

A past article about housing starts in St. Louis.

For more information about housing starts, please visit my St. Louis Home Guide website, or call me at 314-267-2636.

And, to know what your house is worth in today’s market, please visit “What’s my St. Louis home worth?”

Russ

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Boosted by an 82% increase in construction of apartment buildings, U.S. housing starts surged 22% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. It was the first increase in eight months. Construction of new housing units had plunged 38% in the previous three months before February’s unexpected jump. Economists had forecast a further drop to 456,000, despite an expected surge in multifamily construction. Building permits, which are less volatile than the starts data, rose 3% in February to a 547,000 annual rate. Permits for single-family units rose 11% to a 373,000 rate, the largest percentage gain in 18 years.

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