By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New construction of U.S. houses rebounded in January, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. Starts rose 2.8% in January to a seasonally adjusted 591,000 annualized units. This was in line with forecasts of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. This is the highest level of starts since July. Starts in December were also revised up to 575,000 from the previous estimate of 557,000. Starts of new single-family homes rose by 1.5% to 484,000 in January, while starts of large apartment units rose 9.2% to 107,000. Building permits, a leading indicator of housing construction, fell 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000.
