Housing Starts and Building Permits were better than expected in the US. The real estate market, that began the crisis with the subprime crisis, might start to stabilize, giving new hope for the greenback.
Building Permits rose by 3% to 547K (annually adjusted). This was the first good surprise. Expectations were for 500K. And the bigger surprise came from the Housing Starts: they rose to 583K, much more than 480K that was expected.
This leap of 22% in Housing Starts is the first rise in 8 months. Housing Starts returned to the same level as in November 2008. Most of the jump was in residential housing.
The subprime crisis began in the summer of 2007, and focused on the real estate market. It then continued into the financial sector, and now it affects all sectors.
These releases didn’t move the market. They were released together with the PPI figures, that were slightly disappointing. So there was no near term effect.
This surprising rise in the real estate market could be a one time jump, that will be followed with downfalls. But it also may well be the start of a revival, or at least stabilization.
Is this the beginning of a change? Or just a bump on the downhill road?