Construction of new homes in the U.S. accelerated in August by nearly 1%, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The increase was driven largely by a 7% increase in construction of single-family homes, while groundbreaking on multi-family dwellings decreased slightly.
New home construction—particularly starts of single-family dwellings—are considered a reliable measure of the health of the real estate market, a key driver of the overall economy.
New home construction aside, demand may be softening in the housing market, as buyers face the prospect that the era of record-low mortgage rates may be coming to an end. The Fed is expected to announce this week the scaling back of its bond-buying programs, known as quantitative easing, which have kept mortgage rates artificially low in recent years.