U.S. homebuilders broke ground on more houses in July and applications for building permits fell slightly compared with the prior month, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Tuesday.

U.S. privately-owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,211,000 last month, higher than the market estimate of 1,180,000. It was 2.1 percent above the revised June rate and 5.6 percent above the year-ago level.

Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 770,000, 0.5 percent higher than the revised June figure of 766,000. Housing starts with five or more units increased by 8.3 percent from June.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, a gauge of future construction, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,152,000, down 0.1 percent from the revised June rate. It remained 0.9 percent above the July 2015 estimate.

The U.S. housing market has kept solid in the first half of 2006 driven by sustained job growth and falling mortgage rates. Existing home sales, the major part of the U.S. housing market, reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in June, the fourth consecutive month rise, maintaining their highest pace since February 2007, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR) a few weeks ago. Endit

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