Construction of new homes and apartments accelerated at the fastest pace in seven months in June, an indication that the nation’s housing slump may be leveling out, the U.S. Commerce Department said today.

Housing starts rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000, the highest figure since November. Building permits also increased, rising 8.7 percent to 563,000, the strongest reading since December.

That trend is showing up in Greater Des Moines, where construction of new homes increased to 208 in June from 152 in May, said Creighton Cox, director of government affairs for the Home Builders Association of Iowa. The numbers are up for townhomes and multifamily dwellings, also.

Though year-to-date numbers for June are lower than the same period last year, the trend is up, he said.

“We were trending down last year from March to April to May to June, whereas this year we are trending up,” Cox said.

Nationally, the annual pace has now risen for two months in a row after hitting a low of 479,000 in April. It can take four months for a new trend in housing starts to emerge from the government’s data on starts and permits, MarketWatch said.

Starts of single-family homes rose 14.4 percent last month to a pace of 470,000, the highest level since October. Over the past year, starts of single-family homes are down 28.2 percent. Construction of multifamily units remains weak, the Commerce Department data showed. Starts of buildings with more than five units fell 25.8 percent in June and dropped a record 74.8 percent in the past year.

The National Association of Home Builders said Thursday that its survey of builder sentiment rose to 17 in June, the highest level since September.