US housing rose 20.2% in April from March and home building grew to the highest level since 2007, before the housing recession began. This is the biggest percentage increase since February 1991. New applications for building permits, foretelling construction in the coming months, increased 10.1%.
The increased activity was broad: starts on single-family units climbed 16.7%, the most since January 2008, and multi-family units rose 27.2%. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected April housing starts to reach a rate of 1.01 million, but it reached 1.135 million in April.
“The stronger starts and permits data suggests that some real gauges of economic activity may finally be starting to accelerate during the spring,” TD Securities strategist Gennadiy Goldberg said in a note to clients.
US home builders are still less optimistic. The National Association of Home Builders’ confidence index fell for the fourth time in five months in May, to a reading of 54. However, a reading above 50 means most builders generally hold favorable views of the market for newly built, single-family homes.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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