US builders increase home construction in April

Housing starts climbed 6.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Relatively few existing homes are listed for sale, creating an incentive for developers to expand supplies through building during a period of low mortgage rates.

Home construction remains well below its annual pace of roughly 1.5 million during the 1990s, a reflection of both higher housing costs and the damaged financial credit that remains more than 6 ½ years after the recession officially ended.