Groundbreaking on new US homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector’s budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery.

Economists had forecast residential construction rising to a 770,000-unit rate

Housing starts increased 15 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 units, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

That was the quickest pace since July 2008, though data on starts is volatile and subject to substantial revisions.

The US economy has shown signs of faster growth in recent months, as the jobless rate has fallen and retail sales data has pointed to stronger consumer spending.

The data showed housing, which was battered by the 2007-2009 recession, is increasingly one of the brighter spots in the economy and could add to growth this year for the first time since 2005.

“One of the big headwinds for the economy has been the weak housing market and this indicates that headwind has dissipated,” said Gary Thayer, an economic strategist at Wells Fargo Advisers in St Louis, Missouri.

The brighter economic signal is likely to be welcomed at the White House, where a sluggish economy is weighing on President Barack Obama’s chances of re-election next month.

Economists estimate that for every new house built, at least three new jobs are created.

More home building could help compensate for some of the weakness recently in factory output, which is seen as due to sluggish export demand and cooling investment in capital goods.

US stock index futures added to gains after the data, while the US 30-year bond price was down over one point.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast residential construction rising to a 770,000-unit rate. August’s starts were revised to show a 758,000-unit pace instead of the previously reported 750,000.

Housing remains hampered by a glut of unsold homes, and the housing starts rate is still about 60 per cent below its January 2006 peak.

September groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, rose 11 per cent to a 603,000-unit pace – the highest level since August 2008. Starts for multi-family homes climbed 25.1 per cent.

Building permits grew by 11.6 per cent to a 894,000-unit pace in September. August’s permits were unrevised at 801,000 units. Economists had expected permits to rise to an 810,000-unit pace last month.

US home sales have been creeping up and the steep decline in prices since 2006 appears to have bottomed.

In a bid to help the economy by encouraging people to buy homes, the Fed said last month it would buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities every month until the jobs outlook improves substantially.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.