US housing starts surged 14.5% in January to an annual pace of just under 2.28 million units, the Commerce Department said today.
The figure, the strongest since 1973, was well ahead of the average analyst forecast of just over two million and weakened suggestions of a cooling in the property market.
The rise was aided by the warmest weather of any January on record and the rate was the highest for seasonally adjusted starts since March 1973.
