The Commerce Department reported on Thursday the building permits issued for privately owned housing units rose by 0.6 percent m-o-m in April to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.296 million, while housing starts climbed by 5.7 percent m-o-m to an annual rate 1.235 million.

Economists had forecast housing starts jumping by 6.2 percent m-o-m last month and building permits increasing by 0.5 percent m-o-m.

Data for March was revised up to show homebuilding increasing to a pace of 1.168 million units, instead of declining to a rate of 1.139 million units as previously reported.

According to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, fell 4.2 percent m-o-m at 782,000 in April, while approvals for the multi-family homes segment surged 8.9 percent m-o-m to a 514,000 unit-rate.

In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family homes rose 6.2 percent m-o-m to a rate of 854,000 units in April, while housing starts for the multi-family segment climbed 4.7 percent m-o-m to a 381,000-unit pace.