Housing starts climbed 19% in June to 1.427 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Applications for building permits, a good indication of future activity, fell 3% to 1.367 million units in June.
Single-family housing starts fell 0.2% to a rate of 895,000 units. Multifamily starts soared 76% to a rate of 513,000 units. Building permits for single-family homes fell 2.4% to a rate of 871,000 units, and permits for multifamily homes fell 4.2% to a rate of 445,000 units.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.55% during the week ending July 16; it averaged 5.98% at the end of February.
