Homebuilders step up construction of single-family homes as 30-year mortgage rate eases below 7%

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homebuilders are stepping up construction of single-family homes following a steady decline in mortgage rates and broad expectation among economists that home loan borrowing costs will ease further next year. Builders broke ground on single-family homes in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.14 million units, the Commerce Department reported this week. That’s an 18% jump from October and a 42.2% increase from November last year. It also marks the fastest pace for single-family housing starts since April 2022. Single-family housing starts have now risen three months in a row and are outpacing home completions for the first time since the spring of last year.