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U.S. housing starts continue to rise in July

Xinhua, August 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. new home starts climbed to the highest level in almost eight years in July while the building permits fell sharply.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday that privately- owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,206,000 in July, an increase of 0.2 percent from the revised June figure and 10.1 percent higher than the year-ago level.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 782,000, surging 12.8 percent from the revised June figure.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, a gauge of future construction, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,119,000, plunging 16.3 percent from the revised June rate. The decline was partly due to the changes in legislation in the Northeast region where permits plunged by 60 percent.

The housing starts data in July indicated the housing industry will pick up in the second half of this year. A latest industry survey showed that U.S. builders also appeared more optimistic in August. The National Association of Home Builders' confidence index rose to its highest level since November 2005 to a reading of 61 in August. Endite