Housing Starts in U.S. rises to highest level in half a year

The pace of housing starts in the U.S. increased 13.2 percent in April, reaching an annual volume of 1.07 million, the highest in six months, reported the Commerce Department.

In March, the annual volume of new apartment buildings had been located at 947,000 units, according to official figures.

The April increase mainly due to a sharp rise in the beginning of new construction of apartment buildings, which were up 42.9 percent over the previous month.

Experts believe that the construction of apartments is more volatile than single-family home sector, whose early works rose just 0.8 percent, which has been interpreted as a sign that housing construction is earthbound strongly from the recession that began in 2008.

Major advances in new construction of homes in April were for the states in the Midwest and Northeast of the country, which in recent months have been affected by a severe winter which slowed activity in the sector.

Meanwhile, processed permits for new construction last month increased 8 percent, which predicts that the activity will gain momentum in the coming months.

The Federal Reserve keeps interest rates reference at around 0.25 percent, despite which has not consolidated the industry, due to the difficulties in getting funding families and the increase in housing prices , which seems to have anticipated the recovery itself.

A recent study by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the percentage of homes owned by U.S. households stood at 64.8% in the first quarter, the lowest since the 64.7% recorded in 1995 .