US new home starts and building permits rebounded in April, a signal that housing market may gain some momentum after a sluggish first quarter.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday that U.S. privately-owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000 in April, rising 6.6 percent from the revised March figure, but 1.7 percent lower than the year-ago level.

Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 778,000, 3.3 percent above the revised March figure.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, a gauge of future construction, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,116,000, an increase of 3.6 percent from the revised March rate.

Sales of new single-family homes fell 1.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000 in the United States, a third straight fall, said the U.S. Commerce Department last month.

Housing was a bright spot in the U.S. economy in 2015, contributing more than a quarter of a percentage point to gross domestic product growth.