Housing Permits Climb to 5 1/2-Year High in October

The ""Census Bureau"":http://www.census.gov/ and ""HUD"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD jointly released their data on ""building permits"":http://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst.pdf for September and October, with numbers on housing starts and completions postponed due to a lack of funds as a result of the government shutdown.

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In September, housing permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 974,000, a 5.2 percent increase from August, when permits dipped.

The increase was driven by heightened multifamily activity, with permits on buildings with two or more units running at a pace of 359,000 compared to August's 299,000. Single-family activity cooled, with permits coming to a rate of 615,000 (from August's 627,000).

In October, privately owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.034 million--the strongest figure since June 2008.

Permit activity picked up for both single- and multifamily properties in October; permits on single-family building were up to an annual rate of 620,000, while permits for multifamily construction were up to a rate of 414,000.

Government data on housing starts and completions will be released December 18, Census and HUD announced. That report will include statistics for September, October, and November.