The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Tuesday morning that new housing starts in July rose sharply to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million, an increase of 15.7% from the revised June rate of 945,000 and an increase of 21.7% compared with the July 2013 rate of 898,000. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 963,000.

The seasonally adjusted rate of new building permits rose to 1.05 million, which is 8.1% above the upwardly revised June rate of 973,000 and 7.7% above the July 2013 rate of 977,000.

Single-family housing starts rose to an annualized rate of 656,000 in July, up 8.3% from the revised June rate of 606,000.

Permits for new single-family homes rose 0.9% in July to an adjusted annual rate of 640,000, from an upwardly revised total of 634,000 in June.

Multi-family starts for buildings with five or more units, a more volatile number than single-family starts, rose 15.4% year-over-year in July.

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