A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said housing starts spiked by 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.404 million in December after jumping by 3.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.322 million in November.
The continued surge by housing starts partly reflected a significant increase in multi-family starts, which soared by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 423,000 in December after rising by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 380,000 in November.
Single-family starts also shot up by 4.1 percent to an annual rate of 981,000 in December after surging by 5.4 percent to an annual rate of 942,000 in November.
The Commerce Department also said building permits jumped by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.448 million in December after slumping by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.388 million in November.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to come in at an annual rate of 1.400 million.
The report showed multi-family permits led the way higher, spiking by 15.2 percent to an annual rate of 567,000 in December after plunging by 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 492,000 in November.
Meanwhile, single-family permits slumped by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 881,000 in December after jumping by 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 896,000 in November.