The Obamanation

[Lamplighter]

I live in a city that is very well off... good schools, expensive houses, etc.

When the housing crisis began there was little effect here for quite a while.
But eventually, it did hit, and home sales slumped and then prices fell.
Construction of new homes slowed and building permits dropped.

I've heard that places that were slowest to be hit by the crisis would be the first to show the recovery.
And last week as I was driving around town, I noticed several new construction sites.

Today, I came across this article.
Maybe, just maybe, the worst is over.


Bloomberg
10/17/12

Housing Starts in U.S. Surged in September to Four-Year High

Housing starts in the U.S. surged 15 percent in September
to the highest level in four years, adding to signs the industry at the
heart of the financial crisis is on the road to recovery.

Starts jumped to a 872,000 annual rate last month, the most since July 2008
and exceeding all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists,
Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington.



The median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 770,000.
An increase in building permits may mean the gains will be sustained.

<snip>

Building permits, a proxy for future construction, jumped to an 894,000 annual rate,
also exceeding the median forecast and the most since July 2008.
They were projected to rise to 810,000, with a range of 780,000 to 850,000.

The number of permits swelled by 45.1 percent since September 2011,
the biggest annual jump since 1983.

Construction of single-family houses climbed 11 percent from August to a 603,000 rate.
Work on multifamily homes, such apartment buildings, increased 25.1 percent
to an annual rate of 269,000.