Housing Plods Along

Anyone looking for an imminent boom will be disappointed. The rest of us will be just fine. That’s the way I look at today’s housing data from the Commerce Department.

The report shows housing starts rising 0.8% in February to an annual rate of 917,000, which is pretty much in line with expectations and keeps the modest real estate revival on track. Starts of single-family homes – part of the overall number – grew 0.5% to 618,000, the highest level since June 2008.

Meanwhile permits issued to build new homes also rose, suggesting that the current steady recovery is likely to continue through the summer.

It’s tough not to resort to vacuous and meaningless platitudes when discussing reports like this. They are more likely to elicit a yawn than get anyone excited. But they are important because they speak to the continued slow-but-steady recovery that has taken hold right across the economy. The possible downside risks to housing are the same as before: tight credit at the banks; and the continued dark cloud of unemployment and low wage growth that blots the horizon.

Still: chalk up another month of modest progress.