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 Cops: Arizona 5th graders drew up plot to 'end' a classmate. The DOJ just fired 3 prosecutors tied to Capitol riot criminal cases. Hall of Famer Dave Parker dies Hatshepsut's statues weren't smashed due to sexism after all Report an error