STATEMENT BY HOUSING SECRETARY ANDREW CUOMO ON HIGHEST RATE OF HOUSING STARTS IN 10 YEARS

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today issued the following statement in response to a report by the Commerce Department that housing starts increased 5.7 percent in July - the highest monthly rate for housing starts since March 1987.

"Today's report on increased housing starts is a strong sign that President Clinton's economic policies are having a dramatic impact on the lives of American families by helping record numbers become homeowners. This statistic is good news for every hard-working family struggling and saving to turn the American Dream of homeownership into a reality."

(In July, Cuomo announced that the U.S. homeownership rate rose to 66 percent in the second quarter of this year - tying the all-time record rate set in the 3rd quarter of 1997. The number of families owning their own homes rose to 68.3 million - the highest number in American history).