Total housing starts rose 5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million units, according to newly released data from HUD and the Commerce Department. This is the highest housing starts report since July 2007.
While housing production numbers rose, overall permits dropped 4.6% to 1.3 million units: Single-family permits fell 2.2% to 844,000 while multifamily permits fell 8.7% to 457,000.