AlQa'dah 3, 1433, Sep 19, 2012, SPA -- U.S. housing starts rose less than expected in August as groundbreaking on multifamily home projects fell, but the trend continued to point to a recovery in the housing market, the government reported Wednesday. The Commerce Department said construction of houses and apartments rose 2.3 percent last month to an annual rate of 750,000 units. Economists had expected housing starts to rise to a 765,000 rate. Construction of single-family homes—the largest segment of the market—rose 5.5 percent to a rate of 535,000, the best pace since April 2010. But apartment construction, which is volatile month to month, fell 4.9 percent. Applications for building permits, which are a good indicator of future construction, fell to an annual rate of 803,000 from a four-year high in July. The rate of construction has risen almost 60 percent since hitting a recession low of 478,000 annual units in April 2009. However, the pace of construction is only half of what is considered healthy and one-third of their 2.27 million-unit peak in early 2006. The steady gain in housing starts this year suggests the housing recovery has momentum. Sales have been rising slowly, and the decline in home prices has hit bottom, with a tightening supply of properties on the market raising prices in some cities. Also, homebuilder sentiment hit a six-year high this month.
