Applications for new housing builds increased 13.9 percent year-over-year in October, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units, a 64-month high. Data on housing starts and completions for September and October have been delayed until Dec. 18 because the collection of data was affected by the 16-day government shutdown last month.

Building permits surged 6.2 percent from September to October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.03 million units, the highest since June 2008, according to recent Census Bureau data. Permits, which lead housing starts by at least a month, were up 13.9 percent from a year ago.

Permits for single-family homes were authorized at a 620,000-unit annual rate in October, 0.8 percent more than the 615,000-unit pace in September. Permits for buildings with five or more units reached a rate of 387,000 units, a 24 percent increase from October 2012.