Last month was a productive one for the home building industry.
According to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of permits, housing starts, and completions all increased in June.
Realtor.com notes that permits rose 7.4 percent from May and 5.1 percent from the year prior to 1,254,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Starts jumped 8.3 percent from May and 2.1 percent from a year ago to 1,215,000, and completions grew 5.2 percent from May and 8.1 percent from the previous year to 1,203,000.
The median price of a newly built home hit a new high of $345,800, and most new homes were for sale in the South and West.
"With rising population and steady job gains, drastically more new home construction is needed to fully and satisfactorily house new households that will be formed this year and upcoming years," Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist, said in a statement. "More consistent gains are needed to help rebalance the housing market."
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