Building Permits, Housing Starts Signal Mixed Housing Market

Building Permits tracks the change in government issued new building permits from the prior month. Housing starts tracks the change in the number of new residential buildings that has construction during the month. Both signal to the health of the US housing market.
Larger-than-expected increases in housing starts and building permits increased household income and suggest in turn an economic expansion, and visa versa.
According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000, lower than the 600 730,000. This is 7.0 percent below the revised October rate of 769,000, but is 23.7 percent above the revised April 2011 600 of 578,000.