Housing starts reached an annual rate of 954,000 last month, jumping 12.1% from November and up 36.9% from December 2011. “Weather played a role,” wrote Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, in a release discussing the numbers. “December 2012 was the 10th warmest December on record for the lower 48 states, dating back to 1895. With demand picking up and inventories of new homes at near record lows, builders took advantage of the mild December temperatures by starting new homes they planned to start at a later date.” Hurricane Sandy also had an impact, as indicated by the 21% jump in starts in the Northeast.
