Housing Starts Rise in May

Privately-owned single-family housing starts in May reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 419,000 units, up 3.7 percent from the revised April figure of 404,000. Overall, housing starts-including multi-family units-rose 3.5 percent in May, from April's 541,000-unit rate to 560,000.

"While the upward movement registered in today's report is somewhat good news, housing production continues to bounce along the bottom near historic lows, and is only running at a level necessary to replace dilapidated or destroyed units," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

NAHB's Chief Economis David Crowe added: "Like consumers, builders remain very concerned about the pace of economic growth and are awaiting signs of improvement before moving forward with new projects. The relative bright spot in new-home construction is on the multifamily side, where improving demand for rental apartments is spurring gains in that sector. However, access to construction credit remains a limiting factor for new building."

For an overall sense of the U.S. housing market, see our coverage of Harvard University's State of the Nation's Housing 2011.