Reuters
Permits for future home construction rose to their highest point in nearly five and a half years in October and prices for single-family homes posted big gains in September, suggesting that the run-up in mortgage interest rates since May has not derailed the housing recovery.
The data, released on Tuesday, provided the latest signs of strength in the economy, despite headwinds from rising mortgage rates and last month’s partial government shutdown.
“The reports reinforce the notion that the housing sector is successfully digesting the summer mortgage rate pop,” said Michael R. Englund, chief economist at Action Economics.
Building permits jumped 6.2 percent last month to an annual rate of 1.03 million units, the highest since June 2008, the Commerce Department said. It was only the second time since mid-2008 that permits breached the one-million-unit mark.
