The U.S. reported consumer prices rose 0.3% in June, propelled by higher rents. Multi-family housing in June was also behind a big jump in housing starts, up 9.8% from May and 26.6% from a year earlier.
The housing market is expanding, but is still depressed compared to previous years, notes Bill McBride in his blog Calculated Risk (see chart). Americans are a bit more gun shy when it comes to buying a home than in previous periods. Demand appears to have shifted to the rental market, where prices have climbed the most in two years. That accounted for about two-thirds of the 0.3% gain in June, says Bloomberg.
Overall, privately-owned housing starts were 1.174 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. Of that, single family home starts dropped while multi-family surged.