Home Construction Gains After Two Months Of Declines

The Commerce Department reported that U.S. home construction increased 15.7 percent in July, to 1.09 million homes, marking the biggest increases since November of last year.

This increase also followed two months of declines, with a drop of four percent in June and 7.4 percent in May.

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Applications for building permits rose 8.1 percent, after dropping 3.1 percent in June and 5.1 percent in May.

Single-family home construction rose 8.3 percent in July, while multi-family construction was up 33 percent, further highlighting the shift towards rental versus ownership. Homeownership rate hit a 19-year low last month, while rental vacancies were the lowest in that same period.

June starts were also revised upward to 945,000-unit pace from the previous 893,000-unit rate.