"If there was any doubt that the housing market was undergoing a recovery, even a modest one in the face of the terrible 2008 decline, those doubts should be erased by now"
- Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG
The number of housing starts in the world's biggest economy surged to the highest level since July 2008 in September, a sign property market is on the way to recovery. According to the Commerce Department, housing starts jumped 15% to a 872,000 annual rate last month, above of an expected reading of a 2.7% increase to 770,00.
"The housing market certainly has turned," said Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, whose forecast for 790,000 starts was among the highest. "But we still have a long way to go. The good thing is that construction will pull employment with it."
"If there was any doubt that the housing market was undergoing a recovery, even a modest one in the face of the terrible 2008 decline, those doubts should be erased by now," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.41 per cent to 1,460.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher 0.04 per cent to 13,557.00. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.10 per cent to 3,104.12.
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