US home building projects started in June surprisingly rose 9.1%, due mainly to a change in New York City building codes. If that were ignored, starts would have decreased by 4%, the latest government report says.
The Commerce Department said housing starts set an annual pace of 1.066 units in June, the highest since February. Economists were expecting a 960,000 unit rate.
Despite the monthly rise, the figure for June was down 26.9% on the level of a year ago, and an indication that the housing market's troubles may not be over.
New York City enacted a new set of construction codes from July 1, that largely explained an 11.6% increase in building permits and the starts number there, the government said.
Building permits climbed to 1.091 million, higher than the 960,000 expected by economists.
