US housebuilding running 24% ahead of last year

US housebuilding starts are running 24.3% above last year with just one months stats to come, according to the latest official figures.

The latest bulletin from the US Census Bureau and the department of housing shows the number of private residential housing starts had reached a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 685,000 by the end of November.

This is 9.3% above the revised October estimate of 627,000 and 24.3% above the November 2010 rate of 551,000.

Completions by November reached an annual rate of 542,000, 5.6% below the revised October estimate of 574,000 and 1.6% below a year ago (551,000).

The authorisation of building permits is running at 20.7% ahead of a year ago, standing at 681,000 by the end of November.