US home construction climbed to a 6-month high in July
WASHINGTON — Apartment construction in the Northeast fueled a jump in home building in July as the pace of housing starts nationwide reached the strongest pace in six months.
The rate of overall construction rose 2.1 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million from 1.19 million in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was the highest level since February. Most of the gain came from an 8.3 per cent acceleration in the construction of multi-family buildings. Construction of single-family houses edged up just 0.3 per cent.
“Continued recovery in housing will be supported by historically low mortgage rates, coupled with a firming labour market that has begun to spur on wage gains for workers,” said Neil Shankar, an economist at TD Bank.
Construction climbed 15.3 per cent in the Northeast. The Midwest and South reported smaller gains, while starts slipped in the West.