Money | housing market US Housing Construction Hits 4-Year High Up 15% in September: Commerce department By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Oct 17, 2012 8:43 AM CDT Copied In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, photo, new homes are constructed in Edmond, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki,) US builders started construction on single-family homes and apartments in September at the fastest pace since July 2008, a further indication that the housing recovery is strengthening. The Commerce Department says builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. That's an increase of 15% from the August level. Applications for building permits, a good sign of future construction, jumped nearly 12% to an annual rate of 894,000, also the highest since July 2008. The strength in September came from both single-family construction, which rose 11%, and apartments, which increased 25.1%. Construction activity is now 82.5% higher than the recession low hit in April 2009, although activity is still below healthy levels. Read These Next Tillis, who opposes Trump bill, won't seek reelection. The screwworm is truly the stuff of horror films. Obituary reveals teacher's same-sex marriage, and he's fired. Firefighters 'didn't have a chance' in Idaho ambush. Report an error