By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA (AA) – US housing starts saw a strong increase of 12.2% in August, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The figure, which measures the change in the number of new residential buildings beginning construction, came in at over 1.57 million in August, rising from July’s revised figure of 1.4 million.
On an annual basis, however, the leading indicator of the housing industry posted a 0.1% decrease, according to a report by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Building permits, a key indicator of demand in the market, declined 10% to just below 1.52 million in August.
The July figure for building permits was revised to approximately 1.68 million.
Annually, building permits saw a massive 14.4% decline.