Housing starts at five-month high in June

June housing starts in the United States jumped more than forecast as better weather allowed the struggling industry to break ground on delayed projects, according to Bloomberg.

Work began on 629,000 houses at an annual pace, up 15 percent from May and the highest level in five months, figures from the Commerce Department showed today.

Building permits, a sign of future construction, unexpectedly climbed 2.5 percent to a 624,000 annual pace in June. They were projected to drop 2.3 percent to a 595,000 level, according to the survey median. The gain was led by a 6.9 percent jump in applications for work on multifamily units.

Construction of single-family houses increased 9.4 percent to a 453,000 rate in June, the most since November 2010, from the prior month. The monthly gain was the biggest since June 2009. Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartments, surged 30 percent to an annual rate of 176,000. It was up 100 percent from June 2010.

Demand for apartments and other multifamily housing that make up about a quarter of starts may be beginning to increase as foreclosures turn more Americans into renters.

Starts climbed in all four regions, led by a 35 percent jump in the Northeast and a 25 percent increase in the Midwest.

For more information: www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-19/housing-starts-in-u-s-jump-14-6-to-629-000-annual-rate-permits-increase.html