WWNO skyline header graphic
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Local Newscast
Hear the latest from the WWNO/WRKF Newsroom.

Support local, independent journalism on WWNO with your Member Fest gift now! Click the donate button or Call 844-790-1094.

Construction Of New Homes Surges To Four-Year High

Construction worker Jim Castellano walks out of a Toll Brothers Inc. home he is working on in Boca Raton, Florida.
Joe Raedle
/
Getty Images
Construction worker Jim Castellano walks out of a Toll Brothers Inc. home he is working on in Boca Raton, Florida.

The rate at which builders began work on new homes surged to a four-year high, the Commerce Department said today.

The AP reports that September clocked the fastest pace since July of 2008. The AP adds:

"The Commerce Department says builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. That's an increase of 15% from August.

"Applications for building permits, a sign of future construction, jumped nearly 12% to an annual rate of 894,000, also the highest since July 2008.

"The strength in September came from both single-family construction, which rose 11%, and apartments, which increased 25.1%."

Bloomberg reports that this is a sign of recovery but "the level of starts remains below the pre-recession peak, limiting how much the industry can boost the rate of expansion."

Brian Jones, an economist who spoke to Bloomberg, said the "housing market has turned... but we still have a long way to go." He also adds that an increase in housing starts brings an increase in jobs.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.

👋 Looks like you could use more news. Sign up for our newsletters.

* indicates required
New Orleans Public Radio News
New Orleans Public Radio Info