U.S. homebuilders were grabbing more permits to build houses and apartment buildings in May, but the number of new projects that got underway declined, according to two government reports, the National Association of Home Builders said.

The number of permits issued increased 11.8 percent last month to annualized rate of 1.275 million, the highest level since August 2007, the NAHB said in a release. The numbers were pulled from reports from the U.S. Commerce Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Housing starts dropped 11.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.036 million units in May from an upwardly revised April reading.

Nationally, single-family and multifamily housing posted production declines last month. Single-family housing starts fell 5.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 680,000 in May while multifamily starts dropped 20.2 percent to a rate of 356,000 units.

Combined single- and multifamily starts fell in all regions. The Northeast, Midwest, South and West posted respective losses of 26.5 percent, 10.2 percent, 5 percent and 12.5 percent.