Apartment starts spike in Northeast

Permits for new housing construction were up 26 percent in November from a year earlier in Northeast markets, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, including an 18 percent gain from this past October as adjusted for seasonal considerations. The Northeast surge was concentrated on apartment and condominium buildings, with single-family home permits up 9.6 percent on a year-overyear basis to edge the overall United States, but the Northeast trailing western states for house construction. In October, Connecticut permits hit a 15-year high due to Stamford projects on the books.