You can almost hear a collective sigh of relief.
After this morning’s update on housing starts for February, there’s reason to think that a thin ray of optimism is in order when it comes to pondering real estate for 2007. It may be fleeting, but for a few hours, at least, hope has a new lease on life.
The source of the cheer comes by way of the Census Bureau, which reported today that new privately owned housing units rose by 9% last month over January, based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate. In raw numbers, that translates into 1.525 million new starts in February. As the chart below shows, that delivered a much-needed bounce to the battered housing market.
