According to a Tuesday report from the US Department of Commerce (DOC), new housing starts rose in August to an annualized rate of 598,000, compared with a revised 0.4 percent increase in July.
The uptick was bolstered by a 32.2 percent boost in multi-family (apartment building) starts. However, new construction of single-family homes, which account for 75 percent of the housing market, only increased by 4.3 percent to an annualized rate of 438,000. While this reflects the first increase for single-family starts in four months, it is still 9.1 percent lower compared to year ago.
Overall housing starts increased in all US regions except the Northeast, where they dropped 24.3 percent. The decline was offset by a 34.3 percent increase in the West and a 21.7 percent rise in the Midwest.
Permits for new construction, which many economists believe to be a more accurate gauge of home building, increased 1.8 percent in August to an annualized rate of 569,000.
Permits for condominiums and apartments increased by 9.8 percent, but permits for single-family homes dropped 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 401,000.