In an article by Reuters in the NYTimes, MHProNews.com has learned home building permits rose 5.1 percent in February, giving rise to economists predictions that home building could contribute to economic growth for the first time since 2005. The adjusted annual rate (AAR) of 717,000 units last month, the highest since October 2008, exceeded economists’ expectations of 690,000 AAR. The large stock of unsold homes on the market is depressing prices, but housing starts rose in Feb. 2012 34.7 percent over Feb. 2011, the largest year-to-year gain since April 2010 when the tax credit expired. Construction of multifamily housing jumped 21.1 percent last month. Eric Green, chief economist at TD Securities in New York says, “Housing is being nursed back to health, but getting out of rehab takes time.”
