June housing starts at 6-month high, permits up

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON | Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:59pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groundbreaking for homes scaled a six-month high in June, partly reflecting growing demand for rental apartments, a government report showed on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts increased 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 units, the highest level since January, as ground breaking for multi-family units soared 30.4 percent.

Confronted with plummeting home values, Americans are shunning homeownership, pushing up demand for rentals and helping construction to stabilize.

The report also showed an unexpected increase in building permits and a sturdy gain in the construction of single-family homes. It offered a glimmer of hope for the distressed housing sector, which is struggling under the weight of a glut of for-sale properties and plummeting prices.

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