The Telegram reports from Worcester, Massachusetts, that building permits for single and multifamily dwellings were down 55 percent for the first ten months of 2011. Timothy M. Warren, chief executive of the Warren Group, which publishes Banker and Tradesman, tells MHProNews.com he expects home sales to increase slightly in 2012, “and if that’s the case it would be the first time in seven years the volume has increased from the prior year.” He says foreclosures were up almost six percent over last October, but its an artificial increase. “We’ve seen dramatic declines in foreclosure activity, and my gut feeling is that’s not really an indicator of people being current on their mortgages,” he says. “It’s an artificial slowdown by lenders who keep getting their wrists slapped.”

(Graphic credit: City of Worcester, MA)