New construction on U.S. housing units rebounded in November after dropping sharply in the previous month and analysts said the upward trend would continue as long as tax-breaks for first time home buyers remain in place.

Starts rose 8.9% in November to a seasonally adjusted 574,000 annualized units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

October starts were revised lower to a 527,000 pace from 529,000 previously reported. This was down 10.1% from the prior month.

Multifamily starts jumped after hitting record lows in October. There was a slight increase in starts of single-family homes, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Congress extended the home-buyer tax credit until the middle of 2010. The measure had been set to expire at the end of November.

Starts of single-family homes rose 2.1% to a 482,000 rate. This is well about the trough of 357,000 starts reached in February.

In the past year, starts are down 12.4%. Starts of single-family homes are up 5.5%, while starts of apartments and condos have plunged 53.9%.

Building permits rose 6.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 584,000 in November.

Building permits for single-family homes increased 5.3% to a 473,000 rate. This is a new high for the cycle. Many economists consider single-family permits to be the most important number in the government's release.

Permits for apartments and condos rose 8.8% to 111,000.

Housing starts have stopped plunging this year but have yet to show a sustained uptrend, economists said.

In all of 2008, 906,000 housing units were started. In 2007, it was 1.36 million.

The number of homes under construction fell 3.2% to a record-low 540,000 annual rate, while the number of units completed in November rose 8.7% to an annual rate of 810,000.

These numbers suggest a better trend for the real estate market as a whole. We continue to see buyer interest here at Montreux... even with the snow! If you haven't visited the Private Community of Montreux in some time, please come by, we'd love to see you!

Average rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell for the fifth consecutive week, reaching all-time lows, Freddie Mac's chief economist said on Thursday.

"In addition, interest rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages thus far in 2009 averaged one percentage point below their respective average in 2008," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist, in a news release.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.71% for the week ending Dec. 3 -- the lowest it has been since Freddie Mac began its weekly survey in 1971. The mortgage is down from 4.78% last week and 5.53% a year ago.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.27% this week, a low since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 1991. The mortgage averaged 4.29% last week and 5.77% a year ago.

One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.25% this week; they haven't been lower since the week ending June 30, 2005, when they averaged 4.24%. The ARM averaged 4.35% last week and 5.02% a year ago.

But the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM rose slightly, averaging 4.19% this week, up from 4.18% last week. It averaged 5.77% a year ago.

To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage as well as both ARMs required payment of an average 0.6 point.

"Low mortgage rates and the cumulative decline in house prices have contributed to an extremely affordable housing market and helped spur home sales this year," Nothaft said.

"For instance, total new and existing home sales in October were 36% higher than their January low on a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors. The NAR also reported that pending existing home sales rose for the ninth straight month in October, representing the longest consecutive gain since the series began in 2001."

In a separate survey released on Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications filed for the week ending Nov. 27 rose a seasonally adjusted 2.1%, compared with the week before.