Confidence returning to nation's home building market?

Posted at 11:11 AM on December 20, 2011 by Paul Tosto
Filed under: Housing and mortgages

Confidence in the nation's home building market is starting to work its way into the economy. Here's an excerpt from an Associated Press story on this morning's upbeat housing starts data for November.

A surge in apartment construction gave home builders more work in November. And permits, a gauge of future construction, rose largely because of a jump in apartment permits.

Some analysts say the gains, though coming off extremely low levels, suggest the depressed housing industry may have reached a turning point.

Economists now say 2011 will be the first year since the Great Recession began in 2007 that home construction will have helped the economy grow. Before this year, the industry endured two of the worst years ever.

"Homebuilding is through the worst and is now steadily improving," said Paul Diggle, a property economist at Capital Economics.