Today's Wall Street Journal Summary on Housing (Nationwide) 11/17/2006
Some positive views from Wall Street, finally:
"Since hitting their lows in July, homebuilders stocks are up 23%, but still trail July 2005 highs by 39%. The Commerce Dept. today reports on housing starts and building permits: Consensus estimates are that starts fell 5.6%, but that permits are up 0.1%. If correct, that would be the first up month since February. Yesterday, the National Association of Homebuilders reported that its "builders' assessment" number, while still low, rose for the second straight month.
Recently, the University of Michigan saw a sharp swing higher in the number of consumers who say now is a good time to buy a house. Economists differ on where we're going from here: Lehman Brothers economist Ethan Harris sees housings sales stabilizing."