WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders broke ground on the most new homes and apartments in nearly four years last month, the latest evidence of a slow housing recovery.
The Commerce Department said today that housing starts rose 6.9 percent in June from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 760,000. That’s the highest since October 2008.
Single-family housing starts rose for the fourth straight month to a two-year high. Apartment starts, which can be volatile, increased after falling in May.
The number of permits to build homes, a sign of future construction, fell 3.7 percent to 755,000. But that’s down from May’s three-and-a-halfyear high. Permits for singlefamily homes edged up to the highest level since March 2010. Permits to build apartments declined.
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