U.S. housing starts hit a six-month high in June following a historically bad spring, and permits for future construction increased unexpectedly, the government reported Tuesday. The Commerce Department said housing starts increased 14.6 percent to an annual rate of 629,000 units, the highest level since January, as groundbreaking for multi-family units jumped more than 30 percent. Despite the improvement in June, the level of housing starts was about half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists say must be built to sustain a healthy housing market. June's level is less than one-third of the peak it reached during the housing boom. Specifically, builders are almost 31 percent ahead of the 477,000-unit annual pace from April 2009, which was the lowest point on records dating from 1959. Still, they are down about 73 percent from their peak of almost 2.3 million homes in January 2006. Much of June's gain came from a surge in apartment construction, a volatile part of the industry. Single-family home construction rose a more modest 9.4 percent. Building permits, a gauge of future activity, increased 2.5 percent. While new homes represent only 20 percent of the overall home market, they have a bigger impact on the economy, creating jobs and generating taxes. Residential construction accounts for about 2.4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), and indications are that it remained a negative factor in the second quarter after shrinking at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the first three months of 2011. In previous recessions, housing accounted for 15 to 20 percent of overall economic growth. But between 2009 and 2010, housing contributed only 4 percent to the economy.
