The Housing Bubble: Expecting the Unexpected

By William D. Zeranski

The ‘stimulus' package has not had chance to do anything yet, either fly or fail, but the Commerce Department reported some unexpectedly positive news:

"Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000.

This is 3.0 percent (±3.5%)* above the revised January rate of 531,000, [...]"

"Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 373,000; this is 11.0 percent (±2.1%) above the January figure of 336,000."

Now, it can, and will be said that the numbers are less than sterling in regard to 2008, but economists were expecting a drop for the month. Apparently, the destructive effect of bursting housing bubble had its limits, but all the same, the damage doesn't appear anywhere near terminal.