Dive summary:

• U.S. Department of Commerce figures from December showed that builders had begun work on enough single-family and multifamily units to put the annualized pace at 954,000, a 12.1% increase.
• The total comprises an 8.1% increase in single-family starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000 and a 23.1% increase in multifamily starts to 338,000 units.
• The U.S. has not seen a monthly rate as high as 954,000 since June 2008, and the combined-starts rate increased across all regions of the country.

From the article:

"Builders have become increasingly optimistic about conditions in local housing markets in recent months and this report underscores that the housing recovery is well on its way," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla., in a release. ...