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Housing starts up almost 700,000 in January 2012

Housing starts increased in January of 2012 by 1.5%.  This is the highest level since October 2008.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, this number moved up to 699K from 689K for December 2011, which was actually revised up by 32K. From a year earlier this number actually jumped almost 10%.  Last January there were 636,000 starts.

Analysts actually expected housing starts to be 675,000 with a range of estimates between 640,000 and 736,000.

January’s numbers support the theory that homebuilders are shaking off the slow down the last five years and are beginning to be an actual factor in GDP growth of the country. however, this boost is not large enough to lead the economy to get back on track yet.  Another factor that can help the housing segment is the new HARP 2 Program which will enable homeowners to refinance their homes as well.

Multifamily home construction moved up 14% to an annual rate of 175,000 in January. Recently builder confidence has been reported at a four-year high in February.

Building permits in January also moved slightly higher by 0.7% to an annual rate of 676,000, up from a revised 671,000 the prior month.

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