Us home building hits four-year high

The rate US home building has hit a four-year high, according to figures released by the government.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000, the Census Bureau revealed this week, 11.6 percent above the revised August rate of 801,000 and 45.1 percent above last year's estimate of 616,000.

Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000,  15 percent above the revised August estimate of 758,000 and 34.8 percent above the September 2011 rate of 647,000.

According to CNN, house building then rose even higher in October, up 3.6 per cent from September to levels not seen since 2008.

"The further rise in housing starts confirms that the previous month's very strong gain was not an unsustainable surge," Paul Diggle, real estate economist with Capital Economics, told CNN. "It's clear that the homebuilding recovery is gathering a real head of steam."