Housing starts soar to near 33-year high

Did someone say housing bubble?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. housing starts soared 14.5 percent in January to the highest level in nearly 33 years, as groundbreaking on new single-family houses hit a record, the government said on Thursday in a report showing unexpected strength in a market that had begun to slow.

The Commerce Department said January housing starts climbed to a 2.276 million unit annual rate -- faster than Wall Street economists' forecasts of a 2.0 million unit pace. December housing starts were revised up to a 1.988 million unit pace from an originally reported 1.933 million unit rate.

January's increase was the largest monthly percentage gain since March 1994, when starts rose 17.0 percent.

New construction of single-family homes increased 12.8 percent to a record 1.819 million unit pace in January while multifamily housing starts surged 21.9 percent to a 457,000 unit pace, the Commerce Department said.

Starts rose across the United States, climbing 29.2 percent in the Northeast, 23.7 percent in the Midwest, 16.9 percent in the West and 8.7 percent in the South.