Dive summary:

• The annual rate of housing starts was up 15% in September – 11% for single-family homes and 25.1% for multifamily construction.
• The annual rate of building permits pulled across the country rose as well, going up 11.6% from August to 894,000. The activity is measured as the number of starts or permit issuances that would happen in a 12-month period if every month were the same as the month being reported.
• The National Association of Home Builders reported the activity based on data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bureau of the Census.

From the release:

Nationwide production and permitting of new homes rose sharply in September to their highest levels in more than four years, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. ...