US housing sector picks up in June

Washington - New US home construction and new building permits both jumped in June, demonstrating rising strength in the housing market, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

New construction was up 9.8% from May to an annual pace of 1 174 000 units, with the greatest strength in multiple unit buildings.

Permitting rose 7.4% to an annual pace of 1 343 000 units, the gain also most marked in buildings with five or more units.

For the first six months of the year, housing starts were 10.9% higher than the year-before period, while permits, an indicator of future construction, were up 16.2%.

A geographic breakdown of construction activity still showed pockets of weakness. While construction has been strongest in the Northeast so far this year, up 30.3%, building slowed by 8.2% in the Midwest in the first half of the year.

Home building in the West grew 18.6% and, in the South, 9.2%.