Housing starts and building permits rose to their highest levels in nine months in August, but the gains were led by multifamily and apartment construction.

Housing starts for single-family homes fell 3 percent. Total housing starts rose 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 598,000. Building permits rose 2.7 percent in August.

The Commerce Department report comes a day after the National Association of Homebuilders reported its homebuilder confidence index rose for the third consecutive month in September and reached its highest level in 18 months.

KB Home, the Los Angeles-based builder that pulled out of the Mid-Atlantic region in 2008 as demand slumped, announced this week it would resume home construction in the Washington region, saying “the time was right.”

New home sales rose 9.6 percent in July, the biggest monthly increase in sales in more than four years.

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