Housing starts, home sales boom
From Times wire reports
U.S. housing starts rose higher than expected in July as builders responded to the best two months of home sales on record. Building permits, a sign of future activity, also increased.
Builders broke ground on homes at a 1.978-million-unit annual pace last month, up 8.3% from a revised 1.826-million rate in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
This year, housing starts have averaged 1.939 million, on pace to surpass last year’s 1.85 million, the most in 25 years.
