Investors of all kinds have come to see data from the housing and real estate sectors as important indicators that can provide greater insight into the overall state of the economy.
With that in mind, observers may be interested to hear about new federal government data showing that housing starts reached 672,000 in April, marking a 5.8 percent gain over March’s figures as well as a 40.9 percent improvement over last April, when the housing market was still reeling from the effects of the recession.
The government data also found that the number of building permits issued for homes in April fell by an 11.5 percent margin from the previous month, although they were still 15.9 percent higher than the figures recorded in April 2009.
Also, housing completions were reportedly 19.2 percent higher in April than they were in March, although this area was still 8.7 percent less than what was seen last spring. This is largely because a large number of unsold and foreclosed homes on the market provided less of an incentive for builders to develop new properties.
Looking ahead, one of the most important signs from the real estate market will be what, if any, effect the expiration of the popular homebuyer tax credit will have on the broader real estate industry.
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