Housing starts surged an unexpectedly large 11.6 percent in May, the biggest percentage rise in almost seven years and a reversal of two straight months of falls, according to the Commerce Department and the National Association of Homebuilders.
Ground breaking for new homes jumped to a seasonally adjusted 1.733 million annual rate from a downwardly revised 1.553 million rate in April, the biggest climb since July 1995, the Commerce Department also reported. Single family starts-the largest category of activity-jumped 9.6 percent, an increase also not matched since July 1995. Starts beat the expectations of some analysts, according to Reuters, that had forecast a $1.599 million rate.
Permits, an indicator of builder confidence in future activity, rose 2.6 percent. Regionally, starts climbed 6 percent in the South, the busiest home-building region, and 10 percent in the West, the next-most-active part of the country for construction. New home building rocketed
24 percent in the Midwest and 22.4 percent in the Northeast.
