Housing starts rose 9.6% to 1.356 million units in August, according to Reuters. Economists had expected starts to climb to a rate of 1.310 million units.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, rose 4.9% to 1.475 million units in August.
Single-family housing starts surged 15.8% to a rate of 992,000 units after hitting a 16-month low in July. Multifamily starts fell 6.7% to a rate of 333,000 units.
Building permits for single-family homes rose 2.8% to a rate of 967,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes jumped 8.4% to a rate of 451,000 units.
The number of houses approved for construction that were yet to be started increased 1.4% to 285,000 units. Overall housing completions increased 9.2% to a rate of 1.788 million units.
