Home construction saw a better-than-expected rebound in August after a contraction a month earlier, though the strength was all on the back of sharp gains in apartment building, while the single-family house sector saw declines. Housing starts in the United States rose 3.9 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.615 million units, after falling by a revised 6.2 percent in July, according to a Sept. 21 Commerce Department report (pdf). Economists polled by Reuters expected an August rebound in housing starts to 1.555 million units. Multi-family starts rose by a sharp 21.6 percent over the month in August, to 530,000 units. Single-family starts, however, posted their third consecutive month of declines in August, falling 2.8 percent over the month to 1.076 million units. Building permits—a leading indicator for future construction—climbed 6.0 percent in August to 1.728 million, the highest number since April 2021. The gains were mostly concentrated …