Housing starts grew 22.6% in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.49 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Year-over-year, housing starts rose 8.2%.
"The market is being buoyed by historically low interest rates, a focus on the importance of housing and a shift to the suburbs as more buyers are seeking homes in suburban communities, exurbs and more affordable low density markets," NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement.
Compared with July 2019, housing starts grew 3.2% in the Midwest and 5.4% in the South. Housing starts declined 6.2% in the Northeast and 1.6% in the West.
July building permits surged 18.8% from June, and are up 9.4% compared with July 2019. Housing completions grew 3.6% from June to a rate of 1.2 million, 1.7% higher than July 2019 rates.
The full U.S. Census Bureau report can be found here.
