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!