Permits for residential construction in the US rose by 34.9pc to 1.68 million units in May from 1.25 million units in the same month last year, but fell 3pc compared to April.
The US Census Bureau data indicated that of the total authorizations, permits for single-family homes in May tallied at 1.13 million units, down 1.6pc from April while those for buildings with five or more apartments stood at 494,000 units. Building completions in May decreased by 4.1pc in May from the previous month to 1.37 million but increased by 16.1pc from 1.18 million in May 2020. Around 478,000 single-family homes were completed last month, 2.6pc down from April, while multi-family home completions stood at 387,000 units.
Housing starts, on the other hand, improved on a monthly and annual basis last month. In May, construction of residential homes stood at 1.57 million units, up 3.6pc from April and by 50.3pc from May 2020. Of the total housing starts, construction for 1.10 million single-family homes began in May, up 4.2pc from the previous month, whereas construction of multi-family homes stood at 465,000 units.