Privately owned housing starts saw a substantial year-over-year jump in May, following an even greater upwardly revised increase in April, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Housing starts rose an estimated 28.5 percent on an annual basis in May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000. That’s 4.8 percent below April’s upwardly revised estimate of 744,000 when housing starts rose 34.8 percent compared to April 2011. The previous estimate was 717,000.

Housing starts have been rising on an annual basis since September 2011 and are now 48.1 percent above their trough in April 2009 — 478,000 — in census records dating back to January 1959.

The Northeast saw the smallest increase of all the regions, 10.5 percent, to 63,000.

Multifamily housing starts for buildings with five or more units rose 31.6 percent on an annual basis in May, to 179,000.

Privately owned housing completions jumped 10.1 percent year over year in May, to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000. Single-family completions fell 6.3 percent from April but rose 3.6 percent from May 2011, to an estimated rate of 458,000.

The number of building permits issued in May rose 25 percent on an annual basis and 7.9 percent on a monthly basis in May, to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 780,000. Permits for single-family homes rose 4 percent from April and 19.9 percent from May 2011, to an estimated 494,000.

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