Statistics from the Commerce Department showed that housing starts increased more than anticipated in August, rising to their highest levels in four months. While much of that new construction was made up of apartment developments, construction on new single-family homes - the largest segment of the market - increased by 4.3 percent.
The increases were seen by many economists as a sign that the housing and moving markets are stabilizing again, after dropping precipitously following the expiration of the first-time homebuyer credit earlier this summer.
"We have found a bottom for housing activity. It's at a pitiful level, but it should grow from here," senior U.S. economist Ellen Beeson Zentner of Bank of Toyko-Mitsubishi, told MarketWatch.
The announcement of the increase comes just one day after the National Association of Home Builders released its latest rating of builder confidence. That index remained steady compared with last month at 13. Any score below 50 indicates a negative attitude towards the market.
More News