WASHINGTON — US builders started work on homes in December at the fastest pace in 4½ years and finished 2012 as their best year for residential construction since the early stages of the housing crisis.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that builders broke ground on houses and apartments last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000. That is 12.1 percent higher than November’s annual rate. And it is nearly double the recession low, reached in April 2009.