Overall U. S. home starts fell 11.1 percent in May after notching the largest monthly gain in 24 years in April, according to usnews. While May’s figures were 5.4 percent above a year ago, the rate at which homebuilders began new homes in May was 1.036 million, a drop from April’s upwardly revised figure of 1.165 million, a 22 percent gain over March.

Single-family home starts dropped 5.4 percent in May to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 680,000, yet remain 6.8 percent over last year’s rate. Multifamily starts fell 18.5 percent to a SAAR of 349,000, but are still up 2.6 percent over the same period last month.

Another good indicator, however, is that housing permits rose 11.8 percent in May to 1.275 million, the best rate since August 2007. “While the May starts data was a bit of a disappointment, the permit data was much stronger than expected suggesting starts should continue to improve in coming months, supporting job creation and the broader economy,” said Dan Greenhaus of brokerage BTIG.

There are also more people renting: MHProNews has learned the Urban Institute estimates 13 million additional households will be renting by 2030, as compared with nine million additional homeowners. ##

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Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.