U.S. building permits rose more sharply than expected in December, while housing starts fell less than expected, show official statistics released on Thursday.

New building permits, which are supposed to foreshadow the evolution of construction activity, rose by 1.9% month-on-month to 1,495,000 units last month.

By way of comparison, economists and analysts were expecting an average figure of 1,485,000.485,000.

The Commerce Department also reported a 4.3% drop in housing starts, which totaled 1,460,000 annualized and seasonally adjusted (SA).

By comparison, the market was expecting 1,430.000.

The U.S. real estate sector continues its mixed trend, with the recent easing of interest rates failing to revive demand held back by historically high prices and low inventories.

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