New data from the U.S. Census and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show that new home starts rose 18.3 percent in 2013, with construction begun on 923,400 new homes compared with 780,600 in 2012.

For December, housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000, up 1.6 percent compared with December 2012, but down 9.8 percent compared with a revised November estimate of 1.107 million.  

Nationwide, housing permits were up 17.5 percent in 2013, rising to an estimated 974,700 units compared with the 2012 figure of 829,700.

In the Northeast, housing starts were down 21.7 percent in December 2013 compared with December 2012, falling to 90,000 this month compared with 115,000 last year. But housing permits were up 19 percent in the region, rising to 119,000 in December 2013 from 100,000 in December 2012.