What’s Good About More New Homes?

In America this week, the housing market rejoices: Housing starts climbed an unexpected 3.6% in June. According to the latest from the Commerce Department, builders broke ground on new homes at an annual rate of 582,000 in June, well above the Street’s expectations and the “best” month for housing starts since November. Curiously, single-family homes led the way, with a 14% building boom from the month before. That’s the biggest one-month gain since 2004.

Of course, this is a “signal that the housing market was improving” in June, as The New York Times suggests. But we dug up a longer-term chart of housing starts this morning that didn’t inspire as much confidence. Starts may have come up from the deep blue abyss, but we’re yet to emerge from uncharted waters. (more)