Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Green shoots in the US property market
Housing starts unexpectedly surge
Initial construction of U.S. homes unexpectedly surged in February, after falling for eight months, according to a government report released Tuesday.
Posted by flashman @ 08:31 PM (897 views)
4 thoughts on “Green shoots in the US property market”
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drewster says:
“according to a government report”
If I were the government, I’d be sorely tempted to massage the figures and make it look like recovery is on the way. Part of this financial crisis is a lack of confidence and upbeat figures can boost confidence. However, the Obama administration doesn’t need to do this – they’re still in the honeymoon and they can still blame Bush for everything that goes wrong. Thus I think these figures are unadulterated (though they could just be plain wrong).
Off-topic, but I just saw a tv ad for http://www.auctiontoday.co.uk – also known as Real Estate Disposition Corporation, the American property auction giant which was mentioned on here a few weeks ago.
quiet guy says:
“With new home sales still falling and the months’ supply at a record, there is no reason for homebuilding to rise,” wrote Ian Sheperdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in a research note. “This is a temporary rebound, not a recovery.”
Early days to start cheering the recovery perhaps? The market will inform us in due course.
drewster says:
quiet guy,
In January the Halifax house price index showed a surprise 2.0% rise – but that was more than offset by February’s 2.3% drop. One month’s figures are meaningless.
tyrellcorporation says:
I read somewhere yesterday (Bloomberg I think) that the only reason housing starts had increased dramatically was to do with ….. the weather. Ta-dahhhh!
An unusually mild start to the year in many states meant construction could start earlier and more rapidly. Mystery over.