Even though there's been a drop in U.S. housing prices, the real estate market is still recovering, according to BMO Capital Markets Economics, a financial services company.
U.S. housing starts in May fell 4.8 per cent to 708,000 units annualized, according to state data. In the report, BMO Capital Markets Senior Economist, Jennifer Lee, noted that there were upward revisions to the prior two months, especially April - now reported as 744,000 units, up 3.8 per cent from the initial report of 717,000 units.
"All of the declines in May were in the volatile multi-units category while the more stable single units actually rose for the third month in a row to a five-month high," said Lee.
"Building permits, an indicator of what's to come for starts, jumped 7.9 per cent to 780,000 units, way beyond expectations to the highest level since September 2008," she noted.
And there was a higher number of permits given out for single-family and multi-unit homes."
