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August 19, 2014

Housing starts, building permits surge

Housing starts and the number of issued building permits soared nationwide in July, exceeding analysts’ expectations and offering a double sign of increased housing and construction activity, according to data from the Obama administration.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said housing starts for privately-owned homes rose 21.7 percent year over year last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,093,000. That represented a 15.7-percent jump above a revised June estimate of 945,000 and well above market expectations of 964,000, according to data from Yahoo Finance.

Meanwhile, the number of building permits issued last month rose 7.7 percent year over year to an annual rate of 1,052,000. That, too, exceeded expectations of 1,001,000 permits, according to Yahoo Finance.

Also, single-family housing starts in July were at an annual rate of 656,000, which was 8.3 percent above the government’s revised June figure of 606,000.

Meanwhile, privately-owned housing completions were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841,000, or 3.7 percent above the revised June estimate of 811,000, and 8 percent higher than the July 2013 rate of 779,000.

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