Dive Brief:

• Builders got going on single-family or multifamily homes in November at an annual rate of 1.09 million, up 22.7% nationally, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau and the Department of housing and Urban Development.
• The number, which is seasonally adjusted, came from 727,000 single-family units and 364,000 multifamily starts, which are increases of 20.8% and 26%, respectively, from October's report.
• By region, the combined pace was up 41.7% in the Midwest, 38.5% in the South and 8.8% in the West, but the struggling Northeast took a hit of 29.4% from October.

Dive Insight:

At the same time that starts rose in November, permits pulled for future construction were down 3.1%, but the National Association of Home Builders was still happy to have them stay just over the million mark, at 1.007 million. The group's chief economist, David Crowe, said he believed the report was "additional evidence that the recovery is here to stay."