fort lauderdale real estate

A surge in apartment construction gave U.S. builders more work in November.

The Commerce Department says builders broke ground on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 homes last month, a 9.3 percent jump from October. That’s the highest level since April 2010.

Building permits, a gauge of future construction, rose by 5.7 percent. The increase was spurred by more apartment permits.

Though new homes represent just 20 percent of the overall home market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Over the past year, apartment permits have surged roughly 63 percent. Single-family permits have increased just 6.6 percent in that time.

Renting has become a preferred option for many Americans who lost their jobs during the recession and were forced to leave their houses.

Another reason sales have fallen is that previously occupied homes have become a better deal than new homes. The median price of a new home is about 30 percent higher than the median price for a resale. That’s nearly twice the markup typical in a healthy housing market.

The homebuilders’ trade group said this week that its survey of industry sentiment rose in December to 21, the highest level since May 2010. Still, any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. The index hasn’t reached 50 since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom.

© 2011 The Associated Press