US home construction surged in May by the fastest pace in more than a year

U.S. home building surged in May, climbing 21.7% from April, as low inventory in the existing home market continued to boost interest in new homes. Housing starts, a measure of new home construction, came in far beyond expectations that they would decline by 0.1%, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. The number of single‐family units rose in May to 1.631 million, above expectations for 1.40 million and above the revised April estimate of 1.34 million.