Housing Construction Up Slightly in August

Housing construction in August rose for the first time in four months as an increase in single-family home projects offset a big drop in work on multiunit projects. Builders began work on new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million last month, a modest 0.3% increase from July, the Commerce Department said. Construction of single-family homes grew 4.6% to a rate of 1.26 million, the first increase since March. Work on apartments, condos and other multifamily housing projects fell 15.9% to a rate of 270,000. David Seiders, chief economist for the National Assn. of Home Builders, said the rebound in single-family home building was pegged mostly to lower interest rates. By region, housing construction declined in the West and Midwest but rose in the Northeast and South. New building permits, a sign of future construction activity, declined 2.8% in August to the lowest level since December 1997.