LEN - Housing Starts Rebound Lift Homebuilder Stocks: Sign Of Economic Resilience | Benzinga
New housing projects initiated by homebuilders in February exceeded expectations, reversing the downward trend seen in January due to severe winter storms.
Housing starts soared by 10.7% month-on-month in February to an annualized rate of 1.521 million, beating forecasts of 1.425 million. Much of the gain was seen in single family housing starts.
In January, poor weather hampered builders breaking ground on new projects and just 1.374 million housing starts were seen that month, down 12.3% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, building permits, which are seen as an indicator of future building activity, rose by 1.9% in February to 1.518 million.
Affordability Issues In Housing Market
While high interest rates continue to pose affordability issues in the housing market, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage has eased over the past three weeks, standing at 6.74% as of March 14.
Sales of new homes have begun to creep higher, ...