Residential construction spending rose 3.2% from a month ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $247.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.
That annual rate is also up 0.6% from residential spending levels a year ago, though still down significantly from the peak level of $676.4 billion in March 2006.
Nonseasonably adjusted monthly levels increased to $23.5 billion from $21.6 billion in September for residential spending. Year-to-date levels, however, declined 2.5% from a year ago to $205.8 billion.
Residential construction spending rose 3.2% from a month ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $247.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.
That annual rate is also up 0.6% from residential spending levels a year ago, though still down significantly from the peak level of $676.4 billion in March 2006.
Nonseasonably adjusted monthly levels increased to $23.5 billion from $21.6 billion in September for residential spending. Year-to-date levels, however, declined 2.5% from a year ago to $205.8 billion.
Public residential construction, though not a significant percentage of residential construction spending , fell significantly in October. As a seasonably adjusted annual rate, totals declined 2% from September to $8.3 billion and plummeted 24% from a year earlier. The measure includes government-owned housing developments.
Total construction rose 0.8% from September to its seasonally adjusted annual rate of $798.5 billion, but declined 0.4% from the roughly $802 billion in October 2010.
New single-family home sales rose 1.3% in October from September and 8.9% from a year earlier to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 307,000, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The two agencies said earlier this month that housing starts, however, fell 0.3% to an annual rate of 628,000 in October, but increased 16.5% from a year earlier.
Write to Andrew Scoggin.
Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.
