Housing Starts Rebound, Lift Homebuilder Stocks: Sign Of Economic Resilience

Key points:
- In February, more new houses were started by homebuilders than expected, after bad weather in January slowed down construction.
- Building permits, which show future plans for housing projects, also increased in February.
- High interest rates make it harder for people to buy homes, but the cost of borrowing money has gone down a bit recently.
- Homebuilder stocks have risen a lot this year, but some have fallen since March started.

Summary:
Homebuilders began more new houses in February than people thought they would, after bad weather in January made them work slower. This is good news for the economy, because it shows that people still want to buy homes even though interest rates are high. Interest rates affect how much it costs to borrow money to buy a house. They have gone down a little bit recently, which helps some people afford houses more easily. Some homebuilder stocks have gone up a lot this year, but others have not done as well since March started. Read from source...

- The article title is misleading as it implies that the increase in housing starts is a sign of economic resilience, while the content acknowledges the affordability issues caused by high interest rates. A more accurate title could be "Housing Starts Rebound Slightly After Winter Storms, But Affordability Issues Persist".
- The article does not provide any context or comparison for the housing starts data, such as the historical trends, seasonal adjustments, or long-term projections. This makes it difficult for readers to understand the significance and sustainability of the recent rebound.
- The article focuses mostly on the performance of homebuilder stocks and ETFs, which may appeal to investors but do not reflect the actual demand or supply conditions in the housing market. It also ignores other factors that affect the profitability and viability of homebuilders, such as land availability, construction costs, labor shortages, and regulatory changes.
- The article quotes one economist who claims that demand for new homes remains stable despite high borrowing costs, but does not provide any evidence or analysis to support this claim. It also does not mention how the recent increase in mortgage rates has affected other segments of the housing market, such as existing home sales, refinancing, and foreclosures.
- The article ends with a promotion for another Benzinga article that is unrelated to the topic, which may be seen as a cheap trick to generate more clicks or revenue. It also does not acknowledge any potential conflicts of interest or biases of the sources cited in the article.