U.S. Housing Starts Rebound Much More Than Expected In January

After reporting a steep drop in new residential construction in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing housing starts rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of January.

The report said housing starts soared by 18.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.230 million in January after plunging by 14.0 percent to a revised rate of 1.037 million in December.

Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 11 percent to a rate of 1.197 million from the 1.078 million originally reported for the previous month.

Single-family housing stars surged up by 25.1 percent to a rate of 926,000 in January, while multi-family starts climbed by 2.4 percent to a rate of 304,000.

The Commerce Department said building permits also rose by 1.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.345 million in January after inching up by 0.3 percent to 1.326 million in December.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to drop by 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.289 million.

A 7.2 percent jump in multi-family permits to a rate of 533,000 more than offset a 2.1 percent drop in single family permits to a rate of 812,000.