Housing starts highest since 2008

May 18 -- Builders in April broke ground on more U.S. homes than anticipated as buyers took advantage of a tax credit before its expiration. Housing starts rose to a 672,000 annual rate last month, the highest since October 2008 and up 5.8 percent from March, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, dropped to the lowest level in six months. Demand that was bolstered by a government incentive of as much as $8,000 helped reduce the number of unsold new houses to the lowest level since 1971 and encouraged builders to take on more projects. The slump in permits indicates that sustained gains in the weakest part of the economy will require job creation and fewer foreclosures that have pushed down prices.

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