Housing Construction Hits Nine-Month High

Washington, DC, Sept. 17, 2009--Housing construction rose in August to the highest level in nine months as a, increase in apartment building offset a decline in single-family construction.

The August performance was another sign that the nation's housing industry has begun to recover from its worst downturn in decades.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that construction of new homes and apartments rose 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 598,000 units last month. That is slightly lower than the 600,000-unit pace that economists had forecast.

The increase pushed building activity to the highest level since last November and left home construction 24.8 percent above the record low hit back in April.

Applications for building permits, a good forecaster of future activity, posted a 2.7 percent rise in August to an annual rate of 579,000 units, slightly below the 580,000 level that had been forecast. Permits for single-family homes dipped by 0.2 percent while multifamily units rose by 15.8 percent.

The 1.5 percent rise in housing starts followed a small 0.2 percent dip in July. The August strength came from a 25.3 percent surge in construction of multifamily units, a volatile sector which had fallen by 15.2 percent in July.

The larger single-family sector dipped by 3 percent last month to an annual rate of 479,000 units, the first setback following five straight monthly gains.