Home Building Pace Highest in Over Four Years

Washington, DC, Nov. 20, 2012 -- Home building rose to its highest level in more than four years in October thanks to multifamily housing, according to the Census Bureau.

The government said that builders started work at an annual pace of 894,000 homes last month, up 3.6% from the pace in September.

The stronger-than-expected report came because of a surge in construction of buildings with five or more residences.

Single-family home starts remained little changed from September.

However, the September and October readings were the two best months for single-family home starts since 2008 as well.

Applications for building permits fell 2.7% to an annual pace of 866,000.