Housing Starts And Permits Rise, But Optimism May Be Premature

This is an interesting analysis from Lance Roberts at Streettalk Live regarding the recent bullish figures on housing permits and starts.  It is most certainly postive news that builders are showing more optimism and construction is picking up.  That being said, there’s no getting around the fact that the employment picture in the U.S. remains fragile at best.  The U.S. real estate market must also deal with the still broken finance markets before there will be any prolonged recovery.  This is still a micro-managed real estate market being propped up by various forms of life support.  The patient is healing, but still in intensive care.

Gary Shilling is admittedly a housing bear, but he makes some salient arguments. His remarks about purchase applications and new mortgage activity are particularly relevant.