House construction climbs in August

Numbers were good for the housing market in August, with new residential construction up 29 percent over 2011, according to the latest report from the U.S. Economics and Statistics Administration.

Housing starts were up by double digits again in August, making it a third straight month of improvement in residential construction. Housing starts were up by 29.1 percent, beating the revised July estimate by 2.3 percent at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000.

Building permits were up by double digits as well, growing 24.5 percent over the August 2011 estimates, coming in close to the July estimates at a seasonally adjusted rate of 803,000.

Housing completions were in line with estimates as well, only 0.7 percent above the July estimates at 689,000. This was the third straight month of increased housing completions, and the best single month so far this year.