New home construction in the U.S. rebounded 11.8% in November as strong demand continues to boost builder confidence even with the slower winter season approaching.

The double-digit percentage increase last month left home construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.68 million units, an 8.3% increase from the rate at this time last year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. October’s home construction number was revised downward slightly to 1.5 million units from 1.52 million units.

Applications for building permits, a barometer of future activity, rose 3.6% in November to 1.71 million units and is 0.9% above the rate in November of 2020.

Construction of both single-family homes and apartments were strong in November, with both seeing low double-digit percentage increases from October. Despite last month’s increase, single-family housing starts are still down 0.8% from November of last year.

Although the big jump in November after somewhat sideways movement the past few months suggests the housing market is still strong, economists are reluctant to put too much weight in the volatile monthly housing starts data.

“It is best to just keep in mind that builders have more than enough work to keep them busy and interpret the ups and downs in the numbers as mostly noise and seasonal volatility,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist for Amherst Pierpont.

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