housing starts: Housing starts surge in July -- so what?
- 08/18/14 11:32 PM
It's good news, bad news again. Housing starts for July were up over fifteen percent. On the surface it sounds really promising, until you get to the part that housing starts were mostly apartment buildings. Throughout the depths of the real estate crash, the government response has been to help people leave the homes they thought they owned and return to being renters. There were programs to help folks short sell their homes, and there were programs that encouraged banks to lighten the monthly payment load just enough to squeeze a few more bucks out of the distressed home "owner" before … (3 comments)
housing starts: Housing starts are up, good or bad?
- 09/21/10 02:48 AM
According to the Commerce Department, housing starts were up 10.5% in August. This is a level that is a couple percent higher than August, 2009. While this may be an optimistic sign, one of CNBC's Squawk Box regulars, I believe it was Becky Quick, raised an interesting concern. She questioned whether an increase in building was good or bad for housing. With a current inventory that seems to do nothing but increase, I can see her point. Perhaps a "cash for clunkers" restriction when issuing building permits for residential construction could improve the market by limiting existing inventory. If you want … (2 comments)
It's good news, bad news again. Housing starts for July were up over fifteen percent. On the surface it sounds really promising, until you get to the part that housing starts were mostly apartment buildings. 
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