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NEW YORK: A private research group said its gauge of future economic activity rose in November at the fastest rate since March, suggesting the U.S. economy will strengthen early next year.

The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 1.1 per cent last month, the biggest increase since March, when the index jumped 1.4 per cent.

The leading indicators rose 0.4 per cent in October and 0.6 per cent in November.

The measure had stalled this summer as U.S. economic growth slowed. A revival in the stock market helped the index accelerate this fall. Plans by the Federal Reserve and U.S. government to try to jump-start the economy have buoyed shares, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest point since September 2008 on Thursday.

Economists have said that the tax deal will help the economy grow faster in 2011. Mark Zandi, a prominent economic forecaster with Moody's Analytics, expects a 3.9 per cent pace of growth in 2011, up from an earlier forecast of 2.8 per cent.

The Conference Board, a private research group based in New York, measures data that has mostly already been released about real estate, manufacturing, employment, consumer confidence and financial markets.

Of the 10 measures the Conference Board uses to calculate the leading indicators, nine increased in November. Only sluggish building permits, a signal of future home construction, pulled down the measure.

``The indicators point to a mild pickup after a slow winter,'' said Ken Goldstein, a Conference Board economist. But he cautioned that high unemployment and a strained housing market could continue to weigh on economic growth.

WASHINGTON: U.S. home construction nudged up in November after two months of declines.

Builders broke ground last month on a seasonally adjusted 555,000 units, a 3.9 per cent rise from October, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Even with the gain, housing starts are just 16 per cent above the 477,000 unit pace from April 2009 _ the lowest point on records dating back to 1959.

And they are down 76 per cent from their peak in January 2006, and 45 per cent below the 1 million annual rate that analysts say is consistent with a healthy housing market.

All the activity last month came from building single-family homes. They increased to a pace of 465,000 units, a 6.9 per cent rise from October. Apartment construction fell 9.1 per cent to a unit pace of 90,000.

Housing permits, a barometer of future demand, fell four per cent to an annualized rate of 530,000, reflecting weakness in apartment construction. It marked the lowest level in permits since April 2009.

More than a year after the recession ended, the housing market is struggling.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday cited that as a reason it decided to stick with a US$600 billion Treasury bond-buying program intended to bolster the economy.

Americans are trying to repair personal finances, battered by the recession. So they aren't in a rush to make big-ticket financial commitments and buy homes. Plus loans are still hard to come by. A wave of home foreclosures is keeping home prices down. That's good for would-be buyers, but not for builders.

The weak housing market is one of the negative forces confronting a slowly improving economy. So is high unemployment, now at 9.8 per cent.

Each new home built creates, on average, the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

U.S. homebuilders remain uneasy about the housing market's prospects in the months ahead, discouraged by weak job growth and millions of foreclosures, the association says. Its monthly reading of builders' sentiment remained unchanged in December at 16.

Builders are anticipating fewer sales in December than most years, says NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, mostly because of competition from sharply discounted foreclosed homes, tighter lending standards and poor overall job growth. December is traditionally one of the slowest times for sales.

TORONTO:  Canadian home sales grew in November for the fourth straight month but continued a trend of unfavourable comparisons to the same month last year, when sales reached record levels.

Seasonally adjusted home resales were up 4.8 per cent compared to October, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association's monthly report.

Home resales on CREA's Multiple Listing Service have also rebounded by 19.5 per cent from July, when the market hit a trough following the introduction of new mortgage rules, higher interest rates and a new tax in two provinces.

However, actual home sales were down 9.3 per cent compared to record activity last November, consumer confidence improved from the recession and buyers rushed into the market to secure a new home while mortgage rates were near record lows.

``A comparison of November sales activity to sales for the same month in previous years suggests that activity is currently running at more normal levels,'' CREA said in its release, adding that the persistence of large year-over-year declines has been masking the steady improvement in sales since July.

Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets said falling long-term mortgage rates and improved consumer confidence have helped stabilize the market after a downturn in the spring and early summer.

``After a dramatic ride that saw a recession, a piping hot rebound and a subsequent mini correction, the Canadian housing market seems to have landed softly on stable ground. The market now appears well balanced, with neither buyers nor sellers holding a meaningful edge.''

The national average price for homes sold in November 2010 was $344,268, up two per cent from November 2009.

Prices also increased from October, when the average home cost $343,747, up less than a percentage point compared to one year ago. Still November prices were down from May when prices peaked at $346,881.

Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist projects that the housing market will remain in balanced territory in the coming months.

``With sales activity having returned to better health and a firm floor under prices, sellers who previously shied away from putting their home on the market are expected to list their home in response to improved housing demand in recent months,'' he said.

``Following the chilling lows at the onset of the recent recession and the dizzying heights during the subsequent recovery, the national housing market appears to be returning to some semblance of normalcy.''

Seasonally adjusted activity was up from October levels in two-thirds of all local markets, including eight of the ten most active markets.

The number of new listings on the MLS edged down 0.7 per cent and are now down nearly 15 per cent from the peak reached this April.

The decline in new listings is consistent with cooling activity in the housing market since the middle of the year, and has created balanced market conditions in about 60 per cent of Canadian markets.

About two-thirds of the remaining markets remain in sellers' territory.

It would take an average of 5.8 months to sell all of the current houses on the MLS in November _ down from 6.1 months in October.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont.: Real Estate agency Re/Max says all Canadian cities will see housing prices rise in 2011, with the average price expected to go up three per cent to $350,000 by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, Re/Max predicts a five per cent fall in new and resale home sales to 441,000 units this year compared with last, with around the same number expected to sell in 2011.

Lower inventories in several markets are boosting prices, but low interest rates and improved consumer confidence will lead to improved sales in every province moving forward.

Re/Max said there will be an increase in home values in nearly every city next year, with St. John's, N.L., leading the way with an expected eight per cent increase in the average price.

Home values in Greater Vancouver, Kelowna, B.C., Regina, Saskatoon, London, Ont., Ottawa, Sudbury, Ont., and Greater Montreal are all predicted to climb five per cent.

Re/Max says the Greater Vancouver area will see the largest jump in sales next year, at 10 per cent, followed by Victoria at eight per cent, and Kelowna, B.C., at six per cent. Windsor, Ont., home sales will jump five per cent.

The Greater Toronto Area will see more stability in 2011 as the economy improves, with average home prices going up two per cent to an average of $440,000, it said.

Meanwhile, condominiums are expected to get a bigger share of the market in 2011, and first-time buyers will be most active, looking for affordable homes under $500,000.

``The relentless drive in the market reminiscent of years past will be gone and, instead, we can expect to see more normal, balanced market conditions, with buyers maintaining a slight edge,'' Elton Ash, regional executive vice-president, Re/Max of Western Canada, said in a statement.

TORONTO: New home construction spiked sharply in Canada in November, but the improvement appears to be a blip centred in Ontario that will likely provide cold comfort in the new year, according to analysts.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate rose a better than expected 11.6 per cent to 187,200 units last month, up from 167,800 in October, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday.

However, the increase was primarily due to a strong increase in urban multiple starts in Ontario _ based on several major apartment projects in Toronto, that was more than enough to offset declines in all other regions of the country.

Diana Petramala, an economist at TD Economics, warned that November's gain was not broad-based and the strong headline numbers belie some underlying softness in Canadian construction activity.

``Going forward, starts can be expected to continue to moderate from the current level as a slight oversupply in the new housing market will weigh on new home building in Canada,'' she said.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 14.6 per cent to 163,100 units in November. Rural starts were down at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 24,100 units in November.

Urban multiple starts went up 20.9 per cent to 101,800 units, a somewhat volatile measure of construction activity, while single urban starts_ considered a more stable economic indicator, moved up 5.5 per cent to 61,300.

The more stable single unit home sector continues to languish, down almost 30 per cent since the end of 2009, said Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic.

``The surge in housing starts in November was almost entirely due to the volatile Toronto multi-unit sector and, as a result, some of the gains will likely be reversed in the coming months,'' he wrote in a report Wednesday.

``The bigger picture continues to be one of more moderate and stabilizing building activity in Canada after a strong post-recession bounce.''

Many Canadians had rushed into the housing market during the second half of last year and the beginning of this year in advance of new mortgage regulations in April, an expected increase in interest rates and a new sales tax regime that took effect in July in Ontario and British Columbia.

That had the effect of pushing sales ahead into the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 that may have otherwise taken place in the spring and summer. It may also have lured buyers into paying more for homes than they would have without the sense of urgency.

Construction activity lags the resale home market by several months, but tends to follow decreased demand as builders seek to avoid an oversupply of new homes on the market.

November's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 82.8 per cent in Ontario. Elsewhere, urban starts decreased 24 per cent in Atlantic Canada, 21.3 per cent in British Columbia, 15.2 per cent in Quebec and 1.5 per cent in the Prairies.

Kavcic said the monthly average of 180,000 units in the past three months is likely where activity will settle through 2011.

CMHC, meanwhile, predicts housing starts will align themselves to demographic demand next year, which it estimates at about 175,000 units annually.

However, Petramala suggests that given expected softness in the Canadian resale housing market and a high inventory of unsold new homes, housings starts could trend as low of 150,000 units.