There was a significant increase in U.S. home construction last month, the Associated Press reports

The Commerce Department said Friday that construction began on more than 1.07 million homes in April, at a rate 13.2 percent higher than in March.

The gains are mostly due to an increase in the building of condominiums and apartment complexes. The state of the today's economy has contributed to more Americans choosing to rent rather than own. Flat wages and job insecurity have made it difficult for Americans to save up enough for a down payment on a new home. The home ownership rate was 64.8 percent at the start of 2014, down from its peak 69.2 percent a decade ago. Last month the building rate of single-family homes rose by 0.8 percent.

Although the increase in homebuilding is no doubt a positive sign for the economy, the slow increase in single-family home construction doesn't bode well. The Association of Homebuilders says that every single-family home built yields three jobs and generates $90,000 in tax revenues.

The weather has also been a factor in the slow homebuilding rate. The Northeast and Midwest regions saw much of the increase in multi-family housing due to harsh winter conditions that halted home construction, but single-family housing has yet to bounce back.

Builders were set to begin construction on more than 1 million homes at the end of 2013, but the winter storms of January slowed down efforts significantly. The pace of housing started improving with the return of warmer weather in the Northeast and Midwest, however, activity slowed in the South and West. Reports say the pace of housing has dropped 5.9 percent since 2012.

Furthermore, the index of builder confidence fell to 45 percent this month, according to the Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo. Readings below 50 percent indicate very poor building conditions.

New home sales fell 14.5 percent in March with the rise of average prices. Real estate data firm Zillow finds that only 10 percent of homes sold were new, a sharp drop from the normal 20 percent. While mortgage rates continue to struggle, there was a slight increase from last year's rates.