© 2026
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scam Advisory: We have been made aware that an online entity is posing as Joe Donahue to invite authors and other creatives onto our radio shows. The scammers then attempt to charge guests an appearance fee for exposure/publicity.
Please note: WAMC does not charge guests to appear on the station and any email about appearing on a WAMC program will come from a wamc.org email address.

Is Housing Sector Getting Better? Increase In Starts May Signal It Is

NPR | By Mark Memmott
Published May 16, 2012 at 8:45 AM EDT
A home construction site in Westport, Conn., last December.
Spencer Platt
/
Getty Images
A home construction site in Westport, Conn., last December.

There was a 2.6 percent increase in housing starts in April from March, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development just reported.

The Associated Press calls the increase "evidence that the battered housing market is slowly healing." Bloomberg News says the larger-than-expected increase signals the housing sector may be stabilizing. It adds that "employment gains, cheaper homes and record-low mortgage rates are combining to lift demand and encourage builders to take on projects."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott
Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
See stories by Mark Memmott