By Spencer Jakab | The Wall Street Journal;
Housing starts in March rose a lot less than forecast to 926,000 units, confounding predictions of a sharp rebound from a frigid winter in much of the country. The figure for April, due out on Tuesday, finally should crack the million-unit mark on that annualized, seasonally adjusted basis—around the average for all of 2014 — if a Wall Street Journal poll is accurate.
Despite tepid data so far this year on starts and construction permits, home builders themselves have been upbeat. The April reading of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a measure of builder optimism covering both forward and backward-looking factors, was released around the same time as the weak starts figure. It rose to 56 and Monday’s reading, for May, is seen rising to 58.
New Home Construction in Gilbert/Jay Thompson/Flickr
