Initial construction of U.S. homes and applications for building permits both surged in June, according to government figures released Friday.
Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000, up 3.6% from a revised 562,000 in May, according to the Commerce Department.
Economists were expecting housing starts to increase to an annual rate of 524,000 units, according to a consensus estimate gathered by Briefing.com.
Single-family housing starts were especially strong, up 14.4% on a month-over-month basis. It was the biggest surge in that measure, considered the core of the housing market, since December 2004.
Applications for building permits, an indicator of future construction activity, rose 8.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 563,000 in June. It was the highest number of applications since December and more than the 530,000 annual rate that economists had forecast.
June marks the second month that starts have increased after the annual rate of new homes breaking ground fell to an all-time low of 454,000 units in April.
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