America’s housing starts spike to 12-year high in August

Housing starts spiked 12.3% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.364 million and the pace for July was revised downward, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Commerce. Joel Kan, The Mortgage Bankers Association Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, said low mortgage rates coupled with the strong job market convinced homebuilders to ramp up production in August.