Last Friday’s report on housing starts came in nicely above estimates, now how about that. Enjoying their third increase in the last four months, housing starts rose 8.2% in April, which works out to a rate of 1.032 million units a year. That almost equals the average level of the past four months–1.031 million units. To be honest, the bump up was driven by new condo construction, but we’ll take that.

No one is saying the housing dip is over, but these numbers give some analysts hope that stability is coming back. Many feel the new numbers are an indication that residential construction won’t be pulling down GDP growth like it’s been doing. And what’s good for GDP growth–in other words, the economy–is good for us all!

These positive numbers are a welcome reminder that we will ultimately get through this. We just have to be patient while economic growth returns to a stronger pace. Turning real estate around is typically a slow process. But we know once it gets going, we’ll all be very happy campers again!