US housing starts climbs to highest level since 2006

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US housing starts in February climbed to its highest since June 2006, according to a report Thursday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The figure, which measures the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, came in at almost 1.77 million.

It marked a 6.8% increase from the revised January figure of almost 1.66 million.

Housing starts, the leading indicator of the housing industry, also rose 22.3% from February 2021.

Building permits, a key indicator for demand in the market, fell 1.9% to almost 1.86 million.

The January figure for building permits was revised to almost 1.9 million.

Annually, building permits represented a 7.7% gain from last February.