Reaction to federal May housing starts report is mixed

Although a recent government report shows the best month-to-month result in new-home starts since the height of the housing boom, industry analysts are interpreting the news in different ways. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced new residential construction this week. Privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.036 million units, or 11.1 percent below the revised April estimate of 1.165 million units, but 5.1 percent above the May 2014 rate of 986,000 units. Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.3 million units, or 11.8 percent above the revised April rate of 1.14 million units, and 25.4 percent above the May 2014 rate of 1.017 million units. Privately owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.034 million units, or 4.7 percent above the revised April estimate ...