The Department of Commerce reported this morning that housing starts are on the rise, instead of falling from 477,000 last month to an expected level of 450,000, rose to an annualized pace of 583,000, for a month-over-month increase of +22.2%!

Single-family homes, which account for 80% of housing starts - rose +1.1% to 357,000, compared to the previous month's 353,000. The total, however, got a real boost from multiple-family homes, which rose to 226,000, compared to the previous month's 124,000 level. Building permits rose to 547,000 in February, up from 531,000 in January, another good sign, as the consensus was for a decline to 500,000. 

Hopefully these numbers will continue to grow at a slow steady pace! For now, it's much too early to tell, but if the numbers do steadily increase, this will be a good sign that the economy is taking a better turn!

Gerard Ladalardo, CMPS
www.caloanpros.com