Housing starts rose 5.7% to 1.36 million units in April, according to Reuters. Economists expected starts to increase to 1.42 million units.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, fell 3% to 1.44 million units in April.
Single-family housing starts fell 0.4% to a rate of 1.031 million units. Multifamily starts soared 31.4% to a rate of 322,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes fell 0.8% to a rate of 976,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes fell 9.1% at a rate of 408,000 units.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage pulled back from a five-month high of 7.22% to 7.09% during the week of May 6.
