In September, both US housing starts and building permits showed impressive strength. Building permits jumped by 11.6% M/M to a total level of 894 000, while the consensus was looking for only a slight increase to 810 000. The breakdown shows that strength was led by multi-family permits (20.3% M/M), but also single-family permits (6.7% M/M) rose significantly in September. Strength was also broad-based across regions. Housing starts jumped by 15.0% M/M to a total level of 872 000 and also the previous figure was upwardly revised. Strength in starts was also led by multi-family ones (25.1% M/M), while single-family starts rose by 11.0% M/M. Housing under construction increased by 2.6% M/M in September, while housing completed rose only slightly, by 0.4% M/M. Both housing starts and building permits are now at the highest levels since late 2008. We see no special factors to explain away the strength in both indicators, although the unusually warm weather might have supported housing activity, together with historically low mortgage rates. While housing starts and building permits are usually volatile, these data confirm that the US housing market is finally showing signs of a sustainable improvement.